Epilogue

‘I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that your boyfriend is trying to sneak you out of here early,' Serena sighs, ‘but I wish he'd be more subtle about it.'

‘I don't know what you mean,' I say from my position, upside down and slung over Theo's shoulder.

‘It's not like this is the actual wedding, S,' Theo grumbles. ‘And I've been in LA all week. Have you seen Clemmie in this dress?'

‘Put my sister down, you degenerate,' Serena insists, and with a sigh Theo lets my feet slide to the floor. The fact that my whole body presses against him on the way down is just an added bonus for us both.

‘I thought she'd be more relaxed now that the album's out,' I whisper to Theo, adjusting the neckline of my pink dress which is, admittedly, a little on the low side. It seems that, yet again, the bigger boobs spell has been hard at work.

‘She won't be happy until we've swept the Grammys,' Theo says, distracted by the view he has straight down my dress and clearly not displeased with the situation.

‘Which we will.' Serena flicks her hair with satisfaction. ‘Multiplatinum in two months? It's my best work yet.'

‘I think I had something to do with it, too,' Theo protests, his warm hand curling around the back of my neck in a way that has me sighing with pleasure.

Serena obviously hears because she lifts a warning finger. ‘The two of you need to keep it in your pants for the rest of the rehearsal dinner.'

We're in a luxury eco lodge deep in the Cornish countryside where tomorrow Lil and Henry will get married in the woods under a chuppah that Henry built himself.

Theo had a gig last night so he could only fly in right before the event. After the wedding we're driving up to Northumberland for six weeks. I'm deep in the edits of my book which is being published next year and, true to his word, Theo booked Granny Mac's house for the same six weeks that we were there last year.

David is unimpressed by the whole situation, especially because Theo has given him the six weeks off as paid holiday and his long-suffering husband is dragging him off to the Bahamas. David has described this scenario as ‘a living nightmare', but Theo insisted it would be good for him. We have compromised on proof-of-life updates three times a week. Theo is gleefully looking forward to forty-two days of unfettered access to Dairylea Dunkers. The man truly has the palate of a five-year-old.

He's also happy because for one of the weeks, he's booked a nearby house for his family to come and stay, and I just know they're going to love it. Hannah is especially excited about being at the site of our witchiest adventures. Upon meeting her, Serena instantly identified a kindred spirit, while Lil intoned, ‘The magic is strong in this one.' Hannah was of course delighted, though – for now – Oliver remains disappointingly human.

Fortunately, my time is pretty flexible these days. I'm doing a mixture of freelance copy-editing and work for my mum's charity to subsidize my tiny publishing advance and scrape together a reasonable salary. I'm going to start teaching creative writing classes with kids from one of Mum's initiatives in the autumn, and Lisa's going to be my glamorous assistant. I still don't have it all figured out, but I'm enjoying what I do and that's what really matters.

And the fact that I get to go and spend six weeks in my favourite place with my devastatingly beautiful, kind, funny, extremely silly boyfriend is quite the bonus, too.

‘I thought you were practically the patron saint of hot sex,' I point out to Serena now.

‘I am!' Serena insists. ‘I'm just saying let's have a little class. An hour, two tops, to celebrate our sister and then you kids can go crazy.'

‘If you guys want to go and have sex that's fine with me,' Lil beams, drifting over. ‘Actually, Henry and I can point you in the direction of a very handy linen cupboard.'

‘I swear, next time we cast a spell I'm asking for ten million pounds.' Serena swigs her champagne. ‘You horny toads are living proof that we have serious magic in our blood.'

‘And you're not?' I ask, raising my eyebrows and glancing over to where Bee is laughing with our dad. Serena and Bee are taking things slowly, keeping things casual because that's what suits them both, but that doesn't mean the arrangement isn't making my sister disgustingly happy.

‘Well, I for one am extremely grateful for your magical abilities.' Theo pulls me close, plants a kiss on the top of my head as I lean back into him. ‘Though after that article about Sam, I'll admit I'm feeling increasingly sorry for Len. You lot don't mess around when it comes to a good curse.'

I smirk. A couple of months ago Sam was in the press. Actually, a few stories came out about him after Ripp kicked him out the band, stories about what an obnoxious jerk he is mostly, but this one – a damning story featuring several of his exes who spilled the beans on his mediocre love-making – has been especially entertaining.

‘Serves them both right,' Lil smirks. ‘You don't mess with our sister.'

‘I'll drink to that.' Serena lifts her glass.

‘To the Weird Sisters,' I say. ‘Sisters, soulmates, best friends.'

We clink our glasses together and sip champagne. Lil drags Serena off to talk to a friend of hers, winking at Theo and me over her shoulder.

‘Did your sister just conspire to leave us alone?' Theo asks, his mouth against my ear.

‘Mmm, I think so,' I say. ‘How do you feel about tracking down this linen cupboard?'

‘I think I'd go anywhere with you, Clementine Monroe.'

‘Good answer,' I whisper, pulling his head down so that I can kiss him like I want to.

Like he's all my wishes come true.