Second Thoughts

QL, round 4. Puddlemere, Chaser 1. Prompts: "Children aren't happy with nothing to ignore, and that's what parents were created for," ground, "Your words create what you speak about. Learn to speak positively."

Ottery St. Catchpole was quiet on an afternoon like this – the children were in school, the adults at work. There was only the birds and the wind to keep her company.

It was a nice place to get married, quaint and special. She'd imagined country living would look like this. Audrey had spent all her years in the bustling of Manchester, and she rarely spent any time away from the city. The silence astonished her. Everything felt a million miles away.

Molly had wanted to marry them at the Burrow, but Audrey couldn't do that. Try as she might, Molly couldn't make her fit in no matter what; Audrey was a Muggle, plain and simple, there was no getting around that fact. They needed a place where Audrey's relatives could attend the wedding, too – there was to be no displays of magic. Her own parents didn't even know Percy was a wizard, much less her aunts and uncles and cousins. She couldn't imagine the shock. It would probably be much like her own, back when Percy told her a few months ago. She still couldn't believe he kept a secret of that magnitude hidden for the two years they had been dating.

Her mother was adding the finishing touches on her hair, fastening the updo and tying her corset tight. It was the one her grandmother had worn. Long sleeves made of lace, a thin, silk skirt. It was both modest and beautiful, and Audrey couldn't imagine wearing anything else for her wedding.

"All finished," her mother announced, not bothering to keep the pride out of her voice. This was her little girl, her baby, all grown up and getting married. She'd cried last night, after too many sherrys and a bottle of wine from the brewery down the street.

Audrey stood up slowly, feeling a little shaky as she walked towards the mirror. The shoes she was wearing were unusually high, making her more unstable than she already was.

She looked beautiful, though, more beautiful than she could imagine a plain, mousy girl ever looking, but she looked... foreign. Not herself. This wasn't Audrey.

Oh, God.

She couldn't get married. She shook her head.

"Isn't it wonderful, love? You look so beautiful, Percy's going to wonder why he didn't marry you sooner," her mother babbled on, beaming at her daughter.

Audrey ignored her mother, continuing to analyze herself in the mirror. She looked pretty, yes, something she'd never quite been, but so grown up. When did she become so old? She couldn't be twenty-three already...

The thought that she would have to walk down the aisle bubbled up in her as quickly as she shook her head, and she froze. All those eyes would be on her... she couldn't mess up or trip or say something incredibly stupid, like she does under pressure.

Being the middle daughter of five girls meant she was always vying for the attention of her parents – and more often than not, she didn't get it. Her sisters were all outgoing and bubbly, smart and athletic. She couldn't lay claim to any of those adjectives. She was... plain, very much so.

Oh, God. She wanted to marry Percy, she did, but she couldn't do it.

"You'll be fine, Audrey," said her mother, in what was supposed to be a calm, placating tone but Audrey could sense the fine strand of irritation from her display in her mother's voice.

Audrey shook her head again. The room felt stuffy and full, all of a sudden.

"I need some air," she said, slipping out of the door before her mother could say anything in response. The floor of the corridor was shockingly cold against her feet, and she left through the back entrance of the inn, leaning against the wall and breathing in the clear air.

Her feet would be dirty after this. She stretched her toes out, digging them into the supple earth; the dirt wasn't cold, but refreshingly cool against her feet. She closed her eyes. In the darkness, there was nothing to tell her that she wasn't the only one alive on the Earth. Only the scattering breeze, ruffling the trees, kept her company in the darkness of her mind. The cool spring air was refreshing against her skin, helping cool down the anxiety and nerves she was wrought with. It dissipated the long-standing nervousness, and Audrey felt a little better.

Okay. She wasn't the type to back out of anything – and even if she wanted to, she wouldn't, because this was Percy and he was the reason she was here. Audrey loved him on good days, bad days, and everything in between... it was just the whole becoming his wife situation that had her a little nervous.

She imagined his face, and how he got so in to his work. By the end of the night, he'd have a smudge of ink on the tip of his nose and his glasses would be crooked and unbalanced.

And she loved it.

Audrey attempted to talk herself into it. She could do this. Thinking about all of the possible disastrous situations that could happen was only making her worry even more. She needed to think positive, think about all of the wonderful things that were to come.

She breathed in the clear air, and revelled in the silence. She could do this, right? It would probably be a blur, later, when she would look back on it, and she would wonder why she was so nervous.

Audrey paused for a moment, before pushing herself off the wall and slipping back in, climbing up the stairs slowly in the middle of thought.

It was a wonderful day for a wedding in Ottery St. Catchpole.