They were gathered at the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's impending marriage. Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Harry, Fred and George had broken into Mrs Weasley's stash of wine for the wedding early, and were lazing on the lawn outside in the sun. They were well into their wine by now and reminiscing about the simpler days of Hogwarts.

"Hey, remember when Ginny got caught having sex by McGonagall? I don't know who was going to pass out, McGonagall or Gin!" Fred laughed, slopping some wine out of his goblet as both Ginny and Harry turned a dark shade of red.

"Ohhh that was a good one. But what about when Ron thought Hermione was straight?" George cackled, and it was Ron's turn to turn a dark shade of red at the embarrassing memory of asking out Hermione in front of the highly amused common room.

"How was I sposed to know?" he said defensively, taking a prolonged gulp from his goblet, hoping it would hide his redness. Ginny cackled at this.

"Come on Ron, what about the time I found that shoebox under Hermione's bed with newspaper and magazine clippings of female Quidditch players, female aurors and of Fleur!" she hooted, and the group descended into giggles as Hermione now turned bright red.

"Stop that! Fleur might hear!" Hermione muttered, embarrassed. George grinned.

"Please, I don't think her or Bill would be shocked to know that half of Hogwarts liked to look at pictures of her in their, erm, down time in the dormitories," George said with a cackle.

"Honestly, I don't know what any of you see in Phlegm," Ginny said, shaking her head. She stood up from the grass and turned to fetch them another bottle of wine from inside. But as she turned she froze.

"Ginerva Weasley!" Molly barked sternly, her hands on her hips, one clutching a wooden spoon threateningly. Bill and Fleur were standing behind her, the former looking sheepish and the latter glaring. The group all jumped, hastily trying to hide their goblets from sight, but it was too late.

"I cannot believe you could all be so rude as to help yourself to the wine reserved for Bill's wedding!" Molly shrieked, "You'd all better sober up fast because I have a long list of chores for you to do to make up for this!"

In all reality, Mrs Weasley hardly needed to punish them, as enduring the wedding the following day with horrific hangovers felt punishment enough. Molly had tasked Ginny and Hermione with helping Fleur get ready for the ceremony, a punishment she thought especially fitting given Fleur had overheard Ginny's cutting nickname for her. They were sitting in Bill and Fleur's large room with Fleur and Gabrielle, Fleur's younger sister. From the open window they could hear the occasional yelps of Ron and Harry, who were tasked with ridding the garden of the last of the gnomes before the guests arrived. Fred and George had been too quick for the younger boys and hastily volunteered to help Bill with his preparations, knowing the remaining chores would be much worse.

Fleur was sitting on the end of her bed in a silky dressing gown as Gabrielle sat cross-legged behind her, painstakingly doing her hair with elaborate flicks of her wand. Fleur was intermittently sipping on a glass of champagne and chattering to her happily in French.

Ginny was rolling her eyes frequently at Hermione from over Fleur's bouquet. Fleur had insisted that it be re-arranged four different times already and Ginny was losing her already limited patience.

"Y'know, Fleur, we could have done your hair while Gabby has a go with the flowers…" Ginny said sulkily as she pulled at the bouquet under Hermione's careful watch. Fleur stopped what she was saying in French abruptly, her eyes icily turning to Ginny.

"Oui, but Gabrielle has much more style with hair," she said coldly. Her English had improved markedly since working at Gringotts and dating the English wizard Bill. 'Allowing her so many more ways to express her resentment at Ginny and I helping her get ready,' Hermione thought to herself. Ginny frowned and self consciously pulled at her plainly hanging red locks. Hermione felt herself feeling a little self conscious of her bushy curls at the cutting words of Fleur.

"Merde, Fleur," Gabrielle laughed from behind Fleur, "You could go a little easier on zem! Zey are going to be your in-laws, non?" Fleur huffed sulkily and Gabrielle finished her hair with one last masterful flick of her wand. She got up from the bed and turned to a side table before returning with two glasses of champagne in her hands. She offered them to Hermione and Ginny.

"Now, I propose a truce in honour of our families uniting," Gabrielle said melodically, grabbing her wand to refill hers and Fleur's glasses. "Come on, Fleur, you want to actually enjoy your wedding day!"

Fleur reluctantly softened her icy expression and gave her sister a reluctant smile. Gabrielle clinked her glass against Ginny and Hermione's.

"Now, now, you can all go back to 'ating each ozzer tomorrow, but for today we celebrate!" with that Gabrielle threw back her glass and drank it down rapidly. Hermione and Ginny followed suit, before a reluctant Fleur joined them.

"Why isn't Fleur more like you?" Ginny said with a smile, as Hermione elbowed her in the ribs.

"I zink maybe you just 'ave not given 'er a chance," Gabrielle said, smiling with the radiant Delacour smile.

And with that, the girls refilled their glasses, unexpectedly beginning to bond. Ginny and Fleur momentarily putting aside their differences at the charming insistence of Gabrielle.

In Bill's changing quarters, the drinks were also flowing, but the mood was quite different. Bill's hair was freshly cut, his face cleanly shaved and he was wearing a very expensive set of fashionable dress robes that Fleur had selected for him.

He was sitting back in an overstuffed armchair, a twin on either side of him in matching armchairs, smoking cigars and drinking small tumblers of whisky.

"So, you ready to become the most envied man in the wizarding world?" George said with a grin, taking a long pull from his cigar. He paused and made a strangled expression, before releasing a cloud of violet butterflies. "Jesus, Fred! You switched out my cigar?!"

Fred doubled over in his seat, cackling at the latest in the never ending series of minor pranks the twins played on each other. But Bill's face remained solemn. He paled as he took a puff of his cigar, seemingly oblivious to the fantastically violet butterflies fluttering around them in the smoke.

"Shouldn't've invited her to the wedding…" he said suddenly, before taking a nervous sip of his whisky.

"What? Fleur?" George said, puzzled.

"She kind of has to be there for the whole wedding part of it to play out, mate," Fred added, just as confused as his twin.

"Tonks," Bill muttered quietly, taking an alarmingly big gulp from his tumbler.

"Well, she is a family friend," Fred said, still not quite following.

"Not to mention Lupin's wife," George added, "If you were trying to cut back on guest numbers I would have figured old man Lovegood would have been top of the list."

Bill cleared his throat awkwardly, leaning forward in his chair to rest his elbows on his knees. He continued to puff at his cigar in this hunched over, morose pose.

"No…" Fred and George said in unison, realisation dawning on their faces.

"You didn't… not with Lupin's wife…" George said in horror. Bill kept looking intently at his whisky.

"Mate, this is bad!" Fred yelped, "What're you gonna tell Fleur? What're you gonna tell Lupin?"

Bill exhaled in a long and unsteady breath.

"Nothing, and neither will you boys," he said, straightening himself back up in the armchair. "Pre-wedding jitters, that's all. Won't happen again."

Fred and George exchanged silent looks, knowing what each other meant. They were conflicted. On the one hand, what Bill had done to Lupin and Fleur was terrible, and they felt that it should probably come to light before Fleur married him. On the other hand, they felt bound by a fierce loyalty to their brother, even if he was completely in the wrong. The Weasleys always had each other's backs, even if it was over a stupid flare of a temper or getting the wrong end of the stick.

"Should probably tell them, though…" Fred said awkwardly, as him and George took another sip of their whiskies in unison.

"No." Bill said firmly, "I'm not throwing away what I've got with Fleur. Its going to work out. Its meant to be."

Back in the girls' room, wedding preparation had taken a much cheerier turn. Ginny had convinced Gabrielle to let her do her hair in an aim to show she did have some cosmetic skills with a wand. Gabrielle was in front of a mirror, encouraging Ginny as she went.

Fleur was now eager to get into her dress, excitedly taking off her dressing gown and stepping into her wedding dress. Hermione was caught off-guard by the sudden vision of Fleur in her lingerie, including garters. She felt a heavy blush fall over her face and averted her eyes, catching Ginny's eye. Ginny couldn't help but laugh, given the frequent mocking she had subjected Hermione to in the years since discovering her discreetly hidden photos of the French witch under her bed with the images of other beautiful witches. Gabrielle laughed too, clueless as to why Ginny was laughing but eager to get along with them all.

"Can someone do up the back of my dress?" Fleur called and Hermione looked helplessly at Ginny. Ginny cackled and shook her head, "Sorry, Gabby and I are busy with hair right now." Hermione sighed, determined not to let on that she was feeling flustered. She turned back to Fleur, her toned bare back exposed in her open white dress. Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly, stepping forward and putting her hands on the zip at the base of Fleur's back. Up close Fleur smelt intoxicatingly like vanilla and flowers. She was glad nobody could see her blush as she focussed on zipping the dress slowly up Fleur's back.

When she was done, Fleur turned around and stunned Hermione with a radiant smile. Hermione wasn't sure she had seen Fleur smile the entire time she had been at The Burrow.

"I'm excited," Fleur said, still smiling widely, "I once thought I would never meet someone who would love me for me and not my looks."

Hermione heard Ginny snort from behind her, obviously bemused at Fleur thinking so highly of herself. But Hermione thought it was sweet. Fleur was incredibly beautiful, and could arguably have anyone she wanted. It was refreshing to see a vulnerable side of her and see that at the end of the day, she was just another person who wanted to be loved back and appreciated for who they were.

Hermione suppressed a gasp as Fleur suddenly took her hand. "Let me do your hair and makeup," she said, smiling at Hermione. Gabrielle really had done wonders for the frosty inter-country relations at The Burrow. Hermione nodded awkwardly and Fleur pulled out her wand before whirling Hermione around.

Hermione shivered as a cold spell whooshed over her hair, taming it into tidier curls. "You have beautiful curls, Hermione" Fleur said softly, somewhere close to Hermione's neck. Hermione felt a series of slight tugs and pulls as Fleur tamed her hair some more. She wheeled Hermione around to face her again.

"Now, you have such pretty features it shouldn't take much…" Fleur said, biting her lip with concentration as she took Hermione by the chin. She was so close to Hermione's face as she started applying lipstick to Hermione's lips. Hermione could see how incredibly long and dark Fleur's eyelashes were from here. Fleur turned her attention to Hermione's eyebrows.

"B-Bill's a lucky guy…" Hermione suddenly blurted, and Fleur paused, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

Ginny let out a burst of laughter. "Sorry, Hermione is pretty skilled when it comes to school, but she gets pretty dumb around good looking girls." Hermione shot a glare at Ginny. Gabrielle giggled, "Its okay, Fleur gets zat from many men and women…"

Fleur silently resumed applying Hermione's makeup, although Hermione could swear she detected a hint of a blush on Fleur's face.

The first dance had barely finished after the wedding when Bill moved to greet Lupin, Tonks and their young child. Fred and George were just exchanging meaningful looks when loud pops rang out and a Dark Mark appeared above The Burrow.

Hermione didn't even have time to say goodbye to her friends and family before grabbing Harry and Ron and apparating away.