For Empress Empoleon, whose stories are amazing. I hope you like this!
They think you're shallow, because you're tall and thin and blonde and so enchantingly Veela. They think that he's with you because you're beautiful and you're with him because he's handsome and it's never going to last, but they're wrong.
You know the truth, and they're so far from it, it's laughable, though you're not smiling. You've never been this serious about anything – about anyone - in your life.
Maybe you're young (too young for him, they whisper), and maybe you're French, with airs and mannerisms that don't quite match the English culture you're still trying to get your head around. Still, you know what you want.
You've known it since that day in Gringotts, when you stick out your hand, a nervous wreck beneath your practised smile, and introduce yourself. "Fleur Delacour."
"Bill Weasley," he says, and his appearance rings a bell for a reason you won't find out for some time. He looks at you sincerely, his eyes never leaving your face, and you can tell right then that he's not like the rest.
The first time he calls you beautiful, you flinch.
"I 'ate zat word," you murmur, and you swear it takes more bravery to meet his gaze than anything the Triwizard Tournament could have required of you.
"Why?" He asks gently.
Slowly, in your imperfect English, you explain how you can't stand being treated like an object or a prize, instead of a human being, how you're constantly aware of the hungry eyes devouring your appearance and never bothering to look any further, and most of all, how the word beautiful doesn't belong to you.
It belongs to the beggar on the street who feeds his dog before himself, it belongs to Harry Potter and his self-sacrificing bravery. It's a word that belongs to grace of the heart, not grace of movement. It's a word, in short, that belongs to anyone but you.
Bill tries to convince you otherwise, and after a while, you let him think he has, just to move the conversation on.
Later, as you drift off to sleep with a smile on your face and contentment in your heart, you realise you've never shared that much of yourself with anyone before. Unconventional Bill Weasley with honest blue eyes, an earring and a ponytail, he makes you feel more normal than you ever thought you could, and you love it – you love him.
"You complete me." The words are always there, at the forefront of your mind, not quite the tip of your tongue. They get caught at the back of your throat, see, and you can't force them out. Sometimes, the greatest truths are the most difficult to reveal.
You can never bring yourself to say it, because what if he runs away?
What if? What if? What if?
So many questions circling through your mind, and there's never enough answers, is there?
You almost say it when he asks you to marry him. "Oui!" You cry emphatically, reverting unconsciously to French, "Oui, oui, oui!"
He grins and doesn't correct you. "You're beautiful, you know that?"
You don't hate the word beautiful after that. You can't, not when it's Bill's voice, and he's looking at you like you're the only person in the world, the only star in the sky.
Your relationship changes after Greyback attacks him, it's a lot harder than it used to be, but the two of you stick together, bend without breaking, and you feel like every day is a statement to Molly and everyone else who thought you wouldn't make it.
"You complete me," you want to tell him, whenever he looks into the mirror and away from you. He tells you he's ugly and damaged and not what he used to be, and you tell him you couldn't care less, and you mean it. He tells you to leave, to find someone better, to go somewhere safe, and you retort that when you're with him, you've never felt safer. You're not going anywhere.
When you're walking down the aisle in the middle of a war, and Bill's waiting for you at the other end, scars nowhere near as visible as the happiness he exudes (because of you) it fills you up like nourishment, makes you giddy with delight, and nothing has ever made more sense than the two of you together, forever.
The ceremony is over in the blink of an eye and before you know it, you're Mrs. Fleur Weasley, newlywed. As you sit down after receiving countless congratulations, you turn to face him, and finally say it. "You complete me."
He kisses you, and you know the feeling is mutual. He doesn't leave, because he's Bill, and he'll never leave you.
In less than an hour, this scene will turn to chaos as Death Eaters attack and shatter your illusions of safety and this new phase of your life that has barely just begun. Hands and hearts entwined, you'll fight, and there's nothing that will succeed in tearing you apart.
Written for:
The Hugs and Happiness Challenge - Empress!
The Colours Competition - silver, positive (a wonderful competition by Empress herself)
101 Ways to say "I Love You" (prompt 56: you complete me)
The Greenhouses Competition - aster
The Legendary Gods and Goddesses Competition - Chandra
The Legendary Creatures Competition - Makara
The HP Potions Competition - Love Potion
The Bookshelf Competition/Challenge - Maximum Ride