An Hour Before the Wedding
Bill is standing at the window looking out. He turns as the door opens and Charlie enters, naked apart from the towel strategically draped around his waist.
Bill grins at his brother.
"You were planning on getting dressed, I hope?" he asks. "There is only an hour to go."
Charlie grins too. "Well, I considered going like this," he says, "but I didn't reckon you'd be too happy if your wedding began with Mum murdering the best man." He drops the towel on the floor and begins to scrabble in his case for underwear and socks. Bill sighs and turns back to the window.
"What's up?" Charlie demands. "You're not having second thoughts at this late stage, I hope?"
Bill shakes his head. "No, but…"
Charlie is struggling into a dress shirt. "But nothing," he says firmly. "We've had this conversation already, Bill."
"Have we? How d'you know what I was going to say?"
"I know you. I know what you were going to say." Charlie shrugs. "But say it again if it'll make you feel better."
Bill smiles grudgingly. "There's no point. You know what I'm going to say, and I know all the answers you're going to give me."
Charlie's tousled head emerges from the neck of his dress robes. "Humour me," he says.
Bill sighs. "Okay. How can I marry Fleur now and drag her into a war she doesn't need to be part of? How can I marry her after…" His voice trails off and he gestures at his scarred face.
Charlie, now fully dressed, flops down onto the bed and starts pulling on his dragon-skin boots. "You know what I'm going to say, but I'll say it anyway," he says. "Fleur's pretty involved already as far as I can see. Hasn't she been in the Order since you two got engaged?"
"Yes, but…"
"But nothing. She's involved. If you told her to forget about marrying you and go back to France right now, would she?"
Bill laughs. "No. She'd half murder me, and then tell me all the reasons why I was wrong. At great length. Probably in two languages."
"Exactly," Charlie says. He smiles slyly. "Of course, once this palaver is over…" He gestures towards the window in the direction of the marquee, "… the pair of you could always go to France and sit out the war there."
Bill glares at him, his mouth open, but Charlie forestalls him before he can say anything.
"Just giving you the options," he says airily. "I knew you wouldn't go for it."
Bill laughs. Charlie has always had the ability to make him feel better.
Charlie stands up and comes over to his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder. "As for your face," he says quietly. "Fleur loves you, not the way you look or the way you used to look. Would you really want to marry someone who only loved you for your pretty face?"
"No, but…"
"But nothing," Charlie says firmly. "Unless…"
"Unless what?" Bill asks sharply.
Charlie turns away, his face reddening. "You didn't transform at the Full Moon, did you?"
Bill stares at his brother's back, which suddenly looks very forbidding. "No," he says flatly. "Would it make a difference if I had?"
Charlie shrugs, still not facing him. "I just don't think werewolves should get married," he says. "It's not safe. It's not – sensible." He sounds quite fierce, and Bill suddenly realises what – who – he is talking about. He has no idea what to say.
They are both grateful for the tap on the door. Bill says, "Come in!" and Ginny enters, carrying two large cream roses.
"Buttonholes," she says, advancing on Charlie to put his on for him, but stopping dead when she realises both her brothers are staring at her open-mouthed.
"What?" she demands, looking and sounding just like their mother.
Charlie voices what both of them are feeling. "When did our baby sister get all grown up?" he asks teasingly.
Ginny glares at him. "While you were off playing with your dragons," she says tartly. "Stand still while I put this on you."
"Yes ma'am." Charlie stands still as instructed, but he is smirking. The buttonhole fixed, Ginny steps back and surveys him critically. "Comb your hair," she tells him. "Or Mum'll have a fit."
She advances on Bill, who stands still while she puts his buttonhole on, but pulls her into a hug once she is finished.
"You'll always be my favourite little sister," he murmurs. "However grown up you look."
Ginny pushes him away, but she is smiling. "Get down there," she orders. "Or Fleur'll beat you to it. Then what would Auntie Muriel say?"
She sweeps out of the room, and Bill and Charlie start to follow her until she turns back to them.
"You have got the rings, haven't you, Charlie?" she asks sweetly.
Charlie swears and turns back into the room to fetch them. Bill laughs. It is going to be a good day.