4 YEARS LATER

Family weddings really weren't my sort of thing. Weddings in general really weren't my thing. I wasn't sure why I didn't like them but I just didn't. I didn't enjoy going to weddings and yet, I attended almost every one that I had been invited to because someone had decided to share one of the most important days in their lives with me and how was I supposed to decline that offer? I was secretly a romantic at heart, or maybe not so secretly if you asked my boyfriend. Not that he could judge me either. Colin was far more romantic than I was.

But, maybe one of the reasons I disliked weddings so much was because I hated having to get ready for the weddings. I mean, I was capable of dressing presentably, of looking good when I made the effort to do so, only it took me forever to do it. I just had to leave myself plenty of time to get ready in time so why in Merlin's name was I currently running around like a headless chicken?

I knew the answer to that already and the culprit was sitting on our bed, dressed in his suit and smiling innocently at me as I struggled to put my stockings on. Colin was watching me with very obvious amusement as I jumped around the room, hiking the stockings up and pulling them until they were taught and settled on my upper thigh with a sticking charm. He had the nerve to chuckle when I almost stumbled as I straightened out the stockings. Hiking down the dress that I had bunched around my waist, I adjusted it and turned my back towards Colin in silent question.

"I told you to call me two hours before we needed to leave!" I complained, watching from over my shoulder as he rose to his feet so he could zip up the back of my dress for me. He rose to his feet without a word and slowly zipped me up, dragging his hands down my arms until he reached my hands.

"I did try," he insisted, entwining our fingers and propping his chin on my shoulder. After holding me close for a short moment, he eventually released me before returning to his space on the bed, as he continued to watch me get ready. "But you were looking over a patient case file."

A hastily muttered charm had my hair piled up neatly at the top of my head as I grumbled irritably, "You obviously didn't try hard enough."

Colin used to my frustrated outbursts, just shrugged and watched as I headed towards my dresser. I picked up the two pairs of earrings I had set aside, unsure of which one to wear. Pursing my lips, I looked between them before relenting and holding one of each pair up beside my face. Turning towards Colin, I raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?"

He looked between the two pairs and the furrow of his brows suggested that he didn't understand why I was fussing so much. I sort of doubted he could see the difference between both pairs. But I didn't need to cajole him any more before he pointed to the one I was holding on my left.

"Thanks," I said, quickly putting the earrings on as I stared into the mirror.

There was something missing. Ah, lipstick. Grabbing two red lipsticks, I silently held both up and through the mirror, I watched as Colin shook his head incredulously.

"They're both red!" he exclaimed.

"Please? Just help me make the decision?"

He rolled his eyes, gesturing towards the subtler red and I swiped it slowly over both of my lips to get the colour pay-out that I wanted. I did one final check to make sure that my makeup was perfect before looping back towards the bed where I had laid out my shoes. Colin, already knowing what I was going to ask him, silently took my arm and pulled me down beside him. I watched him with a small smile as he picked up my legs and draped them over his thighs. He pursed his mouth slightly as he grabbed the pair closest to him and struggled a little to put do up the small clasp on the shoes.

With a triumphant laugh, he gently nudged my feet off his thighs and onto the floor. Holding his hands out, Colin helped me to my feet and I grinned up into his face, winding my arms around his neck. He indulged me with a faux irritated grumble and wrapped his own arms around my waist.

"I'm sorry I've been a pain," I murmured as I held him close for a moment and leaned up to peck his lips.

"No need to apologise," he said leaning down to give me a gentler, longer kiss. "You've got a lot going on at the moment, I'm not surprised that you're not completely with it right now."

"You're actually perfect," I said with a shake of my head. Reluctantly drawing away from him, I laughed when he instantly pulled me back into his chest. "Come on Colin, we need to go before we're late."

"We can just apparate," he complained. "I feel like I haven't held you like this forever."

"Well we can't have the muggles spying us appearing from thin air," I reluctantly reminded him with a sigh. Reaching out to straighten his tie, I tried to think of other reasons for why we needed to leave the sanctity of our home to go to this wedding but I was struggling to. Colin wasn't wrong; we really hadn't seen each other really for what seemed like forever. "At least we both have time off afterwards. We can go on holiday or something."

"Or just hang around in our pyjamas?" he suggested with a grin, nudging his nose against my own. "We can just take pictures and add them to the wall we have."

"You mean the wall of pictures you have?"