Fleur sat in the park enjoying her lunch by herself and reading the letter that had accompanied the package she had received from France. Her mother had been sure to include a few of the croissants from her favorite bakery back home. She smiled softly as she read the letter, missing the people she loved at home and wondering again what she was still doing in England.

All the people she loved were back in France, and she had achieved her goal of improving her English. There were only rare occasions when her accent would slip. It was usually when she was doing something with Ron. He just had a way about him that made her relax and let down her defenses.

Sometimes, she had even found herself talking to him in French when she was really tired. The first few times he had teased her about it, but then he had quietly and confidently started learning the language on his own.

Fleur missed her family, and the discussion of weddings with Harry and Hermione made her romantic nature come out. She wanted those things for herself, too. She wanted the man who could charm her and make her laugh and was clever enough to keep up with her most mischievous schemes. He had to challenge her and not be a victim to her charms. That man would only end up earning her contempt because of his weakness.

Perhaps the wizard for her was not to be found in England. She could ask for a transfer to the Gringotts branch in Paris. It would be a something she could consider after the Potter-Granger wedding.

Fleur folded the letter to put into her bag and subtly wiped the corners of her mouth in case there were any croissant crumbs. Her silvery hair fell down around her shoulders as she did, draping her in a shimmering glow.

"I've always thought you looked beautiful with your hair down like that," an unexpected male voice said to her.

Fleur snapped her head up to see Bill Weasley still looking like the rock star he had seemed to be when she was seventeen. He was aging, though, and the years of working with curses were beginning to take their toll on him. Even so, he still retained the confidence that had made him one of the most attractive men she had ever met.

"Hello, Bill," she said with slowly measured words. "I have not seen you in a long time."

"No, not since the war really started to get crazy," he acknowledged before he sat down beside her on the bench. "At least, that was the last time we talked to each other. I see the lingering glow of your hair sometimes when I enter places in Gringotts where you have just been."

Fleur couldn't fathom why he had suddenly sought her out this afternoon, but then she remembered he was Ron's brother. This was likely more about the younger Weasley than anything she had done to earn Bill's attention.

"I have heard through the grapevine that you'll be coming to Harry and Hermione's wedding. Is it true that you'll be Ron's date?" he asked.

"Your grapevine didn't tell you that as well?" she asked suspiciously.

"I would rather hear it from you, so here I am. Are you going as Ron's date?" Bill asked.

"I am," she said with a small nod, though she did not take her eyes off his face.

He cleared his throat as he tried to word his question. "Are you and he an item? It would be really strange to be passed on for my brother, Fleur."

She smiled softly, but it wasn't for his benefit. She remembered her year at Hogwarts. "As a point of fact, he asked me out before you and I ever dated. So it is perhaps you who should apologize to him!"

He looked sideways at her in shocked disbelief. "Do you love him?"

Bill's question and tone surprised her. She felt the letter still in her hand, and then she thought of Ron and her family in France.

"I do," Fleur said softly, almost with the tone of surprise.

Deciding to end the conversation with Bill, the woman stood up and excused herself from the park. Her head was full of other thoughts, primarily wondering how it could be that her friendship with the younger Weasley brother had become so dear to her.

Fleur stayed brooding about her situation, the thoughts of England and France all tangled together. She enjoyed being independent. It was part of her nature. She wouldn't have chosen to become a Tri-Wizard champion had she not believed in herself. Whatever funk she was in, Delacour decided that she needed to get out of it immediately.

"Marie," she called out to her roommate who was making kissy faces with her latest acquisition. "Do you still remember the last you tried to set up for me? Would he be interested in a date?"

The woman stopped enough to look at Fleur in surprise. "You're asking this time? What is wrong with you! I thought when you found your ginger boy that you didn't date any more."

"I 'ave no ginger boy," she snapped in annoyance.

"You could have fooled me with the way you two act together," Marie said before giving Fleur another wizard's contact information.

After throwing some powder into the Floo, Fleur finally made a connection to the man who somehow knew Marie. This one was named Lucas.

"Allo," she said as she tried to be charming. "My roommate Marie tells me about you. Would you like to have coffee with me?"

Lucas was a nice looking man for one who worked in an office. Delacour could see that he had never really been very athletic, but he was okay. His blond hair was thinning, but the look in his brown eyes made him seem young enough.

"I prefer tea, but I'd be willing to give coffee a try," he said in an egalitarian way.

"Very good! Let's try meeting tomorrow afternoon, shall we?" Fleur declared before giving him the address to the Muggle coffee shop she and Ron liked to visit.

After the arrangements for the date were made, she felt much better. She put on a light covering over her robes and took a walk through the night to clear her head. Life had suddenly improved.

On his side of town Ron Weasley was playing poker with Harry, Fred and George. The twins were consummate cheaters, but he knew most of their tricks so as not to be fooled by them. The others who had joined their game were suffering worse for the wear.

Ron was caressing his stack of coins when Bill arrived. A few of the males gave a cheer when he walked in as if he was the conquering hero, and he acknowledged it quickly before sitting backwards on a high-backed chair.

"Well, this could be your stag party, Harry. You will be having one, no doubt," Bill said as he gave a big grin.

"Of course, he is!" Fred insisted. "We're going to get him properly pissed and make him do things he'll never remember."

"Never want to, either," George said as he thought of his own bachelor party.

Bill was a very subtle man most of the time, but this time he dispensed with it to speak to his youngest brother. "I spoke to Fleur today at lunch. How long have you two been dating?"

Ron looked at him coolly, as if the invasive question did not bother him in the slightest. "We aren't dating."

"You should know this one has girls for friends," George said in his brother's defense.

Harry looked slightly annoyed by that line of discussion, and Bill saw asked, "What is it?"

Potter looked guiltily at Ron and then back to the oldest Weasley sibling. "I don't know if Ron can be friends with a woman."

The raw honesty of the statement made all the men quiet for a moment. Ron remained perfectly calm and composed on the outside while seething on the inside. He pointed out that his relationship with Fleur was no one else's business.

"That's pretty much what she said," Bill told him. After a long moment of studying Ron, he confessed, "I just don't like it."

"Of course not," Fred interjected. "When you're good looking, like me, you want to be the one love of someone's life. With me, it's easy. I am that good-looking. With you lot, it's a challenge."

"Let's get our minds back on poker," Ron said with a sigh as he tried to change the subject. "Some of you still have money you haven't given me yet."

It was enough of a diversion to make the men go back to their game.

Much later when the game was over, Harry and several of the Weasley brothers were quite inebriated. Ron left their company feeling like he had a weight on his shoulder. He wasn't drunk, but he wished he was so he could let go of the feeling he had for a while.

One person he did not want to see was Fleur Delacour of the silvery hair and enchanting smile. Yet she was the only one he felt could give him any peace. It was too late because they both worked in the morning.

When he returned to his flat, he wrote his small note to Fleur asking her if she would like to have coffee with him at their regular place and set it on the table so he would remember to send the owl in the morning. Then Ron crawled into his lonely bed thinking that there had to be more to life than this.

Jack Farnham was on a vicious tear again when Ron got to the newspaper office the next morning. He stared at his boss's darts and remembered Fleur's idea to make the small implements so that they could not fly. It gave him a chuckle as he put his head back into the article he was writing, a guest column for the sports reporter. He enjoyed writing about Quidditch whenever he had the chance, though he tried not to show his bias toward the Chudley Cannons in his articles.

In the late afternoon an owl from Fleur came to Ron, and he stopped his writing to read what she had sent him. The content of her message was that she couldn't do coffee with him this afternoon because she had scheduled a date with someone else. He put the paper on his desk and thought that this was a replay of their first coffee date. He sighed about the rut his life was in and tried to put this temporary disappointment away.

He put his mind back to his work and did some more writing for the society section of the paper. This was Jack's version of torture for Ron since he didn't enjoy writing that as much as he did the sports articles. The one that he had before him was from some rich pureblood family with a big wedding anniversary. The couple in question was beaming and proclaiming their longstanding love for each other. In one of the quotes he had gathered for the writing, they were saying how they had been each others' best friends, and that's what had made the relationship work so long. Ron doubted the authenticity of the statement, but it still struck a nerve.

He had fallen in love with his best friend once and gotten burned. He had to admit even if only to himself that he was falling for Fleur, too. He was turning out to be just like Harry had said he was, and Ron found that annoying.

Oddly, Ron realized he wanted to talk to about it all with his mother. His parents had the solid type of marriage he could aspire to one day. Speaking honestly about such things with her would be embarrassing at best, but he realized he was going to try. He quickly wrote her an owl to tell her he wanted to visit after his work was done.

Mrs. Weasley had tea and scones waiting for Ron when he came to visit. He ducked his head when he walked in the door and seemed to be blushing when he sat down. The woman was a whirlwind around him as she got things ready, and Ron remembered, too, that she'd always been like this.

"Is Dad still at the ministry?" he asked.

"Yes, dear. He sent an owl that he would be late, so it's just you and I right now. It was lovely of you to want to spend time with me," she finally said as she sat down.

"I need some advice," Ron admitted.

Molly chuckled. "I had thought as much. Grown sons don't come see their mothers as much as we would like. So it had to be something on your mind."

"I made up with Harry and Hermione. I'll be going to their wedding. That's some of the news that's happening with me," he said with a slow sip of tea.

"I always thought she was a scarlet woman," Molly muttered before saying much nicer platitudes.

"Mum, I think… I think I've fallen for someone. I'm not sure what to do about it. I could rush in and tell her, but what if she doesn't feel the same way about me? How can you know? I've obviously not had very good luck with women so far," he said before hiding his face behind the tea cup again.

Mrs. Weasley was unusually silent. "You won't know for sure until you try. Sometimes you just have to be direct. Men are dense, but women are, too. Sometimes she has to be shown what's right in front of her."

Ron nodded. "But is there anything that would let me know she's likely to find interest in me. I don't know if she likes me as a friend or if I have a chance of more."

"She knows. It's a little womanly trick, but she's usually already decided what she thinks of you. There are very rarely cases where a woman doesn't know," she said.

"I'm just afraid of ruining what we've got. If I try to make a move, maybe the friendship we've got goes away," he said while running his fingers through his hair. "I would really miss that."

Molly reached to take her son's hand in comfort. "Just be honest. If the friendship doesn't survive the honesty, maybe you weren't meant to be friends."

"Harry doesn't think I can be friends with a woman. I wanted to punch him in the teeth when he said it," Ron confessed.

"Of course, he said that. He knows you loved Hermione and probably still do. As a friend. But I know something he doesn't," she said with a taunt.

"What's that?" he prompted.

"In the best relationships, you can have romantic love with your best friend. That's not just a made up story. It's how I feel about your father," she said.

Silence passed while Ron thought about what she had told him. Finally, he said, "Thanks, mum."

"You're welcome. When she agrees that she loves you back, come back and let me know. We'll have more tea. A mother could get used to this," Molly said with an indulgent smile.

"I don't know that she returns the feelings," he said derisively.

"If it's Miss Delacour," she said, taking a posh tone to her voice, "she most certainly cares about you. I don't know how deeply, but she obviously cares. Try, Ron. You have nothing to loose."

"So it's just as easy as that?" he asked incredulously.

"Try it and see," she said.

He thought of her advice while they finished their tea date together. He caught her up on his writing and some plans to come home for a big family gathering during the holidays. Upon leaving, he kissed his mother's cheek and went back to his small flat in London.

In Muggle London around the same time that Ron was having tea with Molly, Fleur was having her date with Lucas. He was a perfectly pleasant man, and she was enjoying his company. There was nothing wrong about him at all, and she was trying to give him a chance. He couldn't help it that he wasn't Ronald Weasley.

"I hope we could meet again sometime. Please forgive me if that's too forward," he said cautiously.

"I think we can do that. Thank you for coming on this date. Marie was kind to find you. She says I am too picky," Fleur admitted.

"I can't get over how good your English is," he enthused while looking at her with a slightly glazed look in his eyes.

She shot him a sidelong look of incredulity. He had that expression that men usually got when they were caught in her mystique.

"I have worked very hard to make my English sound beautiful," she told him.

Lucas asked for another date during the time that she and Ron would be going to Harry and Hermione's wedding. She declined and tried not to make too much fuss about who was taking her.

"He's a longtime friend of both the bride and groom," she said lightly.

"That must be nice. Are you two serious? Do I have some competition?" Lucas asked, hopeful that the opposite might be the case.

"We're not like that with each other," she said, a soft sigh escaping her lips. She tried to hide it with joviality. "So there is still time for you, mon cher."

"Well, then. Don't get swept off your feet at that wedding. I'm still looking forward to a date when it's all over," he said as his last request before their coffee ended.

Fleur spent many more days leading up to Harry and Hermione's wedding on her own. She was enjoying being by herself and having the value of the person she was instead of merely being half of a couple. She hadn't done anything with Ron, but he hadn't sought her out, either. She could see by the newspapers that he was diligently working. She had learned to spot Ron's writing even when his work was being used to give someone else a byline.

Finally, the night before they were to go to Harry's wedding, when the wizarding world was speculating on what might be the most romantic wedding ever, she went to Ron's small flat and knocked on his door. When he came, he was wearing his Chudley Cannons pajama bottoms, and his hair was in complete disarray. She found the sight of him endearing.

Ron looked at her in surprise before inviting her inside. "I haven't seen you for a few weeks. Are you okay?"

"I am," she said as she sat down on his sofa. She had been visiting him so many times in the last few months that she didn't have to stop to think about feeling out of place. She was with Ron, and she liked being with him.

Fleur looked up at him, "The wedding is tomorrow. I didn't know what time you'd get me or if we'd go separately. I decided to see you to talk about it."

Ron sat down beside her and stared into the distance instead of looking at her. He tried smoothing down his hair a few times, but it kept popping back up. She laughed and reached over to help him, brushing her fingers along his in the process. He turned to face her, but before he could speak, Ron sighed.

He sighed that he could have feelings for this woman, feelings that were true and more than the boyhood crush he had. The crush had been based on some ideal of what the perfect girl should be. The Fleur beside him on his sofa was neither perfect nor a girl. She was a woman with faults that made her all the more interesting because of them.

He liked her. He really did. He might have thought he loved his past girlfriends, but Ron realized he had never really liked them as people. This was probably what his mother had meant.

"What's wrong, Ronald?" she asked as she took her hands away from his wild hair.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about various things. My head is full," he said.

"Do you need a pensieve?" she asked with a soft smile.

"Maybe. I don't know if it would help," he answered.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, too," Fleur said. "I have gone on a few dates with this new man Marie found for me. He seems nice."

"Nice is… nice," he said.

"Yeah, it is. But there's a problem," she said.

"What's that?" he asked, playing his part in the dialogue.

Fleur looked at him with his wild red hair and electric blue eyes. Though he was dressed plainly, she realized that he had become lovely in her eyes. His was the face she looked forward to seeing most, even if she had taken time away from him for a while. Instead of speaking words, Fleur sat up and leaned forward to put a soft kiss on his lips. It obviously surprised him because Ron stiffened when she did it.

"Um…" he murmured before he could put a coherent sentence together. Then he realized that she had kissed him. She had feelings for him, too.

"I guess that could be a problem," he finally said.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's more of a problem than I thought, especially if…" her voice trailed off and she looked down. Then Fleur mentally kicked herself for playing the weak and shy card. She knew Ron hated that.

"Fleur, you are one of the best friends I have ever had," Ron started with deliberate slowness. "I love you, you know? I think the friendship I have with you is the one good thing I have lately. I don't want to mess that up, and you've seen how I've really messed it up in the past."

Fleur searched his expression because she wasn't sure if these were the soft words leading up to a rejection.

Ron went on bravely, unaware of the thoughts in her head. "I think I need to be honest enough to say that lately I've been thinking about you in a way that isn't just as a friend. It would be really nice if you felt the same way, too, but if you don't, I'll have to pick myself up and move on."

"What does that mean?" she said the confusion showing on her face.

"You kissed me. I don't think it was a pity kiss," he said as he looked around his surroundings. "Or maybe it was. But what do you want?"

"I want to be your friend," she said firmly. "And maybe more."

Ron watched as Fleur took his hand in hers and looked into his eyes. It was such a sweet, accepting gesture that he could only smile at her.

"I think we fit really well together, don't you?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, I do. So maybe I need to cancel any future dates with Lucas, though he is really nice," she offered.

"Well, that's the polite thing to do, isn't it?" he answered with a huge grin. Ron felt his heart racing as he realized what this meant for the two of them.

Fleur looked really pleased with the turn of events. She stood up from his sofa and turned around to face him. Then she leaned forward to straddle him where he sat while she kissed his face. It was many hot moments later before she pulled away.

She righted her clothing before reminding Ron of the time to pick her up. Then she Apparated away from his flat with a pop.

Ron was a nervous wreck when he was getting himself dressed in the morning. He was calm about Harry and Hermione's wedding, thankfully. His nervousness was all about Fleur and their decision to become more than friends. He realized he was going to be permanently distracted all day, and he hoped he wouldn't be obvious.

Ron reached for his best simple and suave dress robes. He looked at his reflection, and after deciding there was nothing he could do to improve his lot, he Apparated to Fleur's flat.

He knocked lightly on the door, and he expected Marie to open the door or shout to let him inside. Instead, Fleur was at the door, giggling with laughter. She fell out of the doorway into his arms, and they both crumpled to the ground. She quickly put her arms around his neck as they kissed each other good morning.

"I'll have to refresh my make up," she said after they stopped for a breath. She had a light in her eyes that he saw only when she was making mischief with him.

"Oh, but it was worth it," Ron declared with a satisfied sigh.

"Are you two going to come in, or are you going to fornicate right there in the hallway where everyone can see you?" Marie asked them crossly.

"Fornicate? Since when do you use big words?" Ron teased her as he came inside their flat.

"Since you two are apparently 'together.'" Marie glared at him as if she thought it was distasteful, and then she said, "I thought you two were dating all along. She denied it. You denied it. But now you are, and I can't stand it."

"I thought you'd be happy to be right for once," Ron deadpanned while his eyes sought out Fleur who had quickly returned from touching up her face.

"Milady," he said with a bow before offering her his arm.

Fleur curtsied back to him, and put her hand to his arm before she said her goodbyes to Marie.

"Have fun at the wedding. Don't do anything too romantic," she warned.

"Nice girl," Ron said once they were on the other side of the door. "I think she's just sore that none of her matches worked out for you."

Ron and Fleur arrived to Harry and Hermione's wedding ceremony, and all the witches and wizards who were anybody were there. One of them was Gideon Mason who had to make an appearance since he was the big name reporter of note. This was a relief for Ron who delightfully let him do the job he was actually supposed to do.

The pair took seats near the other members of the Weasley family. Fleur and Bill managed to nod at each other civilly while Fred and George greeted her more amiably. Since she had become close to Ron, she had been a regular patron of their shop.

Harry stood at the altar looking awkward and nervous while his groomsmen, people Ron didn't know, tried to look supportive around him. Hermione's matrons and maids of honor looked lovely on their side of the altar with some making suggestive faces at their groomsmen. Molly noticed and seemed scandalized, saying as much to her husband.

Ron was unmoved by all around him because he was still feeling the shock of being in a brand new relationship with Fleur. It was a good match, however strange, and the newness and rightness of it all made him feel invincible. So when Hermione came up the aisle looking more beautiful than she ever had, even when she had gotten her Yule Ball makeover, the pain of her loss didn't hurt Ron at all.

After the vows were exchanged and the new Potters were introduced to the wizarding world, the party began in earnest. Plentiful refreshments were on the tables surrounding the dance floor. The Potters did their first dance as man and wife before splitting up to dance with and give regards to the guests in attendance.

"Dance with me?" Ron asked Fleur as he held his hand out to her.

"I don't think so," she said with a devilish laugh. When he looked at her, her eyes were gleaming with trouble.

"You are so bad!" he teased.

"I am," she agreed as she took his hand for dancing.

They got one dance with each other wherein Ron got to hold her close and feel that all was right in his world. His family could think what they want. He wasn't going to discuss Fleur with them right now or how things had changed between them. They probably already suspected it because they had been asking loaded questions before the pair had been ready to see it for themselves.

"We should go see Harry and Hermione," Fleur said when the song ended.

"Yes, let's," Ron said as the walked over to them.

Fleur smiled at Hermione and told her what a beautiful bride she had made. Beside her, Ron made noises of agreement. Fleur then took her chance to dance with Harry while Ron asked Hermione to dance with him.

As they smoothly moved around the floor, Ron said, "You look so happy."

"I am," Hermione said and then looked at him. "I'm really sorry we spent so much time not talking to each other, but I'm glad you're here now."

"I am, too. I guess it's what they say about time healing all wounds. I am happy for you and Harry," he said sincerely.

"Maybe you'll find someone, too," Hermione said.

"I might," he agreed without detail.

When the dance was over, Ron and Fleur separated from Hermione and Harry, but new people came to take their places with the bride and groom. So he took her fingers and lightly walked across the floor past where Bill was talking to his date. When the oldest Weasley brother saw them, he focused his attention on his brother. He put his arm around Ron's neck and pulled him off to a corner where some of the family were making mischief.

"What do you want, Bill?" Ron asked.

"So, is there anything going on with you and Fleur?" he asked.

Ron smiled slowly at him. "You know we're just friends. She couldn't really want another Weasley after having you."

"Mum seems to think you're together now," Bill said.

"It's a wedding and romance is in the air," Ron said patiently. "I wouldn't worry about it. Go take care of your own date so you can give our mum something to really talk about."

Ron patted Bill on the shoulder and then glided back into the crowd to where Fleur was. In his absence, men had surrounded her, trying to flirt and get her attention. Ron realized that life with her would be like that. Men would always crowd around her and want a piece of her, but she wanted him. The beauty of that made him feel humbled. Let her have her admirers. None of them would be going home with her.

When she realized he was looking at her, Fleur smiled at Ron with one of those veela smiles that could bring a man to his knees. She walked over to him while her admirers trailed her like puppies.

Ron nodded to the men behind her. "Save the last dance for me?"

She looked at him with a soft expression and then come close enough to stand on her toes to give him a soft kiss. Ron wrapped his arms around her back and returned Fleur's kiss. It wasn't an obnoxious spectacle, but it was a quiet announcement of their involvement with each other.

Later, Fleur went home with Ron and ended up staying for their first clothing-optional after-party. She laughed, and he felt shell-shocked. It was awkward as only something like that could be, but it was satisfying enough for them to cuddle in the afterglow. Ron could barely speak a word.

"Thank you," he finally gasped.

Fleur laughed. "You mean for the… trick? I can do it again."

"No! Well, yes, actually. But I mean, I'm really glad I ran into you at the coffee shop that day. I would never have predicted this. Us!" he quickly corrected.

"Me, neither," she agreed. "But it's good, yes?"

"Yes," he said while holding her close.

Fleur smiled softly into his chest and felt the satisfaction that they weren't vaguely familiar strangers any more as they had been on that day so many months ago. She was now with the man who was her dearest and most loved friend, and somehow all outcomes from here seemed glorious.

"We'll have to go back there again soon," she said as she rose up above him to give him a kiss.

"Agreed," Ron said, speaking against her lips, "but not before you show me that trick again."

Fleur practically purred at the suggestion and then did exactly that.

THE END

A/N: Thanks so much for reading and supporting my story. I hope you few dedicated readers find this conclusion satisfactory.