Disclaimer: Not mine.
AN: Merry Christmas and a happy New Years!
The ceremony was beautiful, Lavender thought. Muggle music because Mari insisted that Wizarding music hurt her ears, colourful decorations, and of course, the bride and groom's faces were full of adoration.
Lavender herself sat beside Neville with their hands linked as their best friend remarried her husband. If anyone deserved a happy ending, Mari, who had suffered so much, did. And this was a much better wedding then the ten-minute elopement they'd had at a muggle courthouse before going on the run.
The priest waved his wand and gold strands tied the two's hands together. "You may kiss the bride," he announced with a pleased smile George grabbed Mari and spun her around before pressing their lips together enthusiastically. The audience erupted into cheers and Lavender felt elated tears fall down her face and she turned to pull Neville into their own kiss.
"Did you ever think that this would happen, back during the war?" Neville asked her half-an-hour later as they lingered at a table in the reception tent. Lavender hesitated for a second before shaking her head.
"No," she admitted. "Not really. At the time it felt like we would be fighting forever." She looked out over the party. Mari and George were spinning around the dance floor, lost in each other's gazes. "I'm so glad it did though."
Neville smiled at her and held out his hand. "Dance with me Lav?" She accepted with a smile.
The speeches were several hours later. Fred went first as best man, joking mostly but being serious when he wished the two a long and peaceful life together, stating that they deserved it more than anyone. Lavender, the maid of honour, went next.
"Everyone knows I met Mari at eleven years old on the Hogwarts Express. I was shocked when I realized that the tiny girl with the horrendous glasses and hideous Muggle clothes was the famed Girl-Who-Lived. I took it upon myself to tutor her in the Wizarding World and we adopted Neville into our little group soon after. I never expected everything that would happen by becoming involved with her." Here Lavender saw Mari look down slightly and she rushed to continue. "But for all the pain that being Marigold Potter's best friend has given me, I wouldn't change a thing about our friendship. Because of all we've been through, I know, beyond a shadow of doubt that Mari and Neville will always have my back, just like I'll have theirs'. Mari, no one in the world deserves this more then you. I love you so much and I'm so glad that you're happy."
Afterwards, Mari, Neville and Lavender gathered outside the tent, conjured cloaks wrapped around their shoulders.
"Remember the first time we did this?" Neville asked as they watched the sun creep up over the horizon. The girls nodded and Mari spoke.
"I told ye how the muggles would make wishes on the sunrise and we swore we'd be best friends forever, and we'd never go to bed angry with each other."
"Have any wishes?" Lav asked her best friends. They looked at each other for a moment before Mari answered.
"I wish that this, this feeling of happiness and contentment would last forever." The other two smiled at her and nodded in agreement.
"Sounds like a good wish to me," Lav answered. Neville wrapped his arms around them.
"What about adding a caveat that it gets better?" The girls smiled and the all fell silent, watching the end of the sunrise together, just as when they were young teenagers, with the weight of the world on their shoulders.