A big thank-you to 0WolfMoon0 for beta-ing this! This is my longest fic yet, so please tell me what you think :) REVIEW

I don't own Harry Potter

Sunrise

Cold wind rushed through the open window of Molly Weasley II's bedroom; October had fallen on England and with it came days of chill and wind. The air outside was only four degrees Celcius, and even offset by the heat of the house, the interior temperature of the bedroom wasn't more that thirteen degrees.

But Molly didn't care; most girls would, but Molly didn't. She liked the way the freezing morning air hit her wet skin as she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She liked the fact that she could be fully alert before the sun raised its sleepy head. Molly's favorite part of the day had always been the sunrise, so peaceful and quiet. It always allowed her to prepare without rush or hurry.

Molly's eyes traveled around the room as she paced over to her closet. The lavender walls took on a blue-ish hue in the dim earlier morning light, which remained the only light source aside from the open bathroom door, since the globe-shaped ceiling light remained off. The double doors of the white closet stood open, and a wedding dress hung from a hanger on one of them.

Molly's wedding dress. Her eyes lingered there for a moment, taking in the shock that the day had actually arrived. The most important day of her life, as many women -including her mother and both grandmothers- claimed it was, had finally arrived, but so far it felt to Molly like an ordinary morning.

Molly opened a drawer in her dresser and removed a silk slip that her mother had made for her. She tossed it over her arm, also taking a pair of lace panties from the drawer before she made her way back over to her bed. She set the items down, and ran her hand through the silk, admiring her mother's finesse with a needle. Her mother, Audrey Weasley, was a muggle, a Catholic and very pretty, tall and slender with wavy brown hair and warm amber eyes. People always said Molly looked just like her mother, but it wasn't without a lot of effort.

Molly reached over and turned on the lamp on her bedside table, her eyes skating over the clock on their way to her vanity. It was 6:27 am. Soon her mother and sister, who both seemed more excited than she was, would be up. She had about two hours to impress her mother enough with her appearance that she would be left alone. The ceremony was at noon in a garden not too far from their house. She had to admit that the idea of getting married in a garden was "simply splendid."

Molly gathered more "equipment", as her cousin James had once joked, from her dressing table: eye shadow, eye and lip liner, mascara, blush, foundation, lipstick, and hair brushes, combs, curling iron and etcetera. She carefully sat on the bed and dropped the items, except for the curling iron, which she plugged into an outlet and set on her bedside table. Their house was equipped with muggle electricity for her mother, and Molly found it quite helpful.

She took off the towel she was wearing and tossed it across the room, sliding the lace panties up her legs and donning the slip, zipping it up in the back. It fell down to just above her knees and was strapless with a built-in bra. The bra had some extra padding in it to give her rather small breasts some oomph. She settled herself back onto the bed and started putting on make-up.

One of the things Molly had taken from her dressing table was a white envelope with light yellow edging, and the writing on the back was in blue ink. An invitation to her own wedding. The contents had been removed from the envelope and dropped on the bed. Molly's eyes looked over the wedding invitation; the long, rectangular shaped note and the curly font gave off a dainty air and the actual text was simple and traditional.

Mr. and Mrs. Percy Ignatius Weasley

request the honor of your company

at the marriage of their daughter

Molly Brooke Weasley

to Jonathan Scott Hitchens

Molly found herself peering at those lines in between make-up applications. Every time she did, she found herself wishing that it said Brooke Molly instead of Molly Brooke. She didn't care that Brooke Molly wasn't her real name, or that it sounded ridiculous; Molly hated her first name. She loved her grandmother, her namesake, but Molly? It's just silly. Molly had started to go by Brooke back in her third year, so all of her friends and family knew to call her Brooke. Her mother's friends, who were no doubt invited to her wedding, however, didn't, and it was bound to drive her nuts.

That was the only part of the letter that irked her or even elicited some kind of emotion from her. Molly didn't know if it just hadn't set in that she was getting married or if she genuinely didn't feel nervous or euphoric about it. Jonathan was a great guy, very loving and sweet. He cared about her, and even loved her. She liked him, and she wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life with him, but she didn't know if she loved him.

If she was being completely honest with herself, she would admit her biggest fear of finding a man whom she did love, who would spice up her world and make her feel like she was flying, or whatever you feel when you're in love. Of course, if she was being completely honest with herself, she would know that she would never find a man who did all those things, because she had already found a woman who had.

Sharise Ann Murphy and Molly Brooke Weasley had met when Sharise was sent to England to straighten out affairs between the two ministries. Sharise was American, and worked for the American Ministry of Magic as the manager of foreign affairs. Sharise had broad shoulders and tanned skin, her diamond-shaped face always carried a wide smile and she stood an inch shorter than Molly at 5' 5".

They hit off fast, and went out to lunch together almost everyday. Their first date had been after a meeting. They went out to eat at a diner in Trafalgar Square and walked around town chatting and laughing. Sharise kissed Molly goodnight and said that she hoped they could do that again soon. Molly had been torn between her feelings for Sharise and her sense of loyalty to her family. She had been in Hufflepuff at Hogwarts and was raised to believe that homosexuality was a sin. She chose to not think about it and continue the relationship.

It ended... bitterly? Unhappily? Molly didn't know how Sharise felt about it, but she was heartbroken. Sharise had invited her to "sleep over" at her hotel room. When Molly opened her eyes again that morning she was in a tangle of limbs and sheets, totally naked and feeling the blissful and happy. The feeling hadn't lasted long; Molly detangled herself from the mass, careful not to wake Sharise, and collected her clothes. She got dressed in the bathroom, all the while trying to keep from bursting into tears. She left a note with just seven simple words on it.

I'm sorry; I love you. - Molly Brooke

Sharise returned to America and they never saw each other again. Molly met Jonathan a few months after the break-up, and when he proposed three years later, Molly had seen no reason to refuse. No one could ever compare to Sharise and at least Jonathan wouldn't ask questions. Molly couldn't handle if he asked questions.

Molly finished her make-up and examined herself in the mirror. She had left off blush, eye shadow, eye liner and lip make-up; she would do those later. She glanced at the clock, which read 7:03, and picked up her curling iron.

The curling iron had been a gift from her Aunt Fleur for her eleventh birthday. When Molly was ten Fleur had caught her scowling at her appearance in the mirror. That Molly had ferociously curly hair and freckles all over her face. Fleur asked what she was doing and Molly confided her wish to look pretty. Fleur sent a package by owl about a week later contain a curling iron, a bottle of Cecil Bernard's Straight Hair Solution and the latest issue of maquillage pour la belle sorcière, a French Wizarding make-up magazine, in English. Inside there was a note from Fleur saying she got Molly a subscription to the magazine and the pages were nearly covered with comments in Fleur's curly handwriting giving Molly tips on what to use and how to use it.

Molly started getting up early in the mornings and putting the Straight Hair Solution in her hair, always letting it dry before curling it into loose curls. Molly didn't want to just straighten her hair because then people would know she was doing something to it, since neither one of her parents, nor her sister had straight hair. Lucy seemed to be the lucky one when it came to appearance, with moderately curly, Weasley-red hair. Molly loved the way the combination of the straightening solution and curling iron went together, and sent Fleur a bunch of flowers in thanks for the present. Fleur replied saying that the straightening solution had a product in it that kept the curling iron from damaging her hair as it normally would if she used it a lot.

The whole process of curling took about forty minutes, and it was a safe bet that Audrey and Lucy would be up at eight-fifteen sharp, giving Molly a good twenty five minutes to finish her make-up.

Molly pushed herself off the bed, feeling satisfied with her appearance, and replaced all the make-up and hair items back in their places. By then the sun was up and light poured in through the windows, making the lamp unnecessary. Molly switched it off and walked over to her dresser. She took out her white stockings and wedding garter, a simple lace one that she couldn't care less about (she was never going to get it back, anyway), from a drawer and pulled them on, sliding the garter up her leg to rest a few inches above her knee. She turned to her wedding dress and took in a deep breath, studying the beautiful garment in front of her.

The dress was made of lightweight, silky satin that flowed elegantly to the floor; the hem would trail slightly behind her, but wouldn't interfere with her feet due to the way it was cut. Pearly white seed beads adorned the bodice and hem, arranged in a simple pattern like a constellation. The strapless ensemble seemed to shine. Molly unzipped the back and removed it from the hanger, almost afraid that she would ruin it just by touching it. She stepped into it and lifted the material up around her bust. She stood there awhile, holding the dress up, not quite sure what to do next.

"Need some help?" Molly turned her head to see her cousin Victoire standing at her door in her underwear and a thin, short lavender robe. Her long blond hair was messy and tangled, making it evident that she had just woken up.

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Victoire closed the door walked over to where Molly stood in front of the mirror.

"The wedding isn't happening for another four hours," Victoire said, gently pulling the zipper up the back. "But it's alright; I tried on my dress hours before as well. Just remember, you need to eat breakfast first."

Victoire was Molly's matron of honor, mostly because Molly thought she could handle it better than Lucy or Roxanne. Lucy was sixteen and still in Hogwarts, and Roxanne, a year younger than her at twenty-three, was too much of a party animal to be serious about it. She charged Roxanne with the duty of planning her bachelorette party, which was a screaming success, and Lucy was junior bridesmaid. Victoire was twenty-six and had been through the process before, and was there for Molly every step of the way.

"I'm going to go make breakfast and take a shower," Victoire said, "or the other way 'round"

Molly heard Victoire open and close the door to Molly's room and listened as her footsteps die away. Molly bent over to reach for her veil, and placed it on her head. She studied herself in the mirror, and grinned. At least I look good, she though, willing away the memories of Sharise.

She heard a door open and close, her Uncle George saying, "Good morning, mother of the bride!" and footsteps coming closer and closer.

I'm sorry Sharise, she closed her mind off the subject together.

"Molly Brooke, are you awake?"

Time to face the music...

"Yeah, I'm up."