When the girls apparated from Spinner's End, Bella knew exactly where she wanted to go looking for her wedding dress. There had been a new bridal store that had opened in muggle London, not far from an apparition point and she was excited to see what it would be like.
"So what is the name of this store Bella?" Hermione asked, as the girls walked down the street with their arms looped together.
"It's called the Beautiful Lily. It opened 3 years ago and I heard that it's a really great place to go for wedding dresses, as well as bridesmaid stuff," Bella answered Hermione.
All of her friends looked at her in shock, as if they didn't think that they would be in her wedding party.
Bella stopped walking and looked at them straight in the eyes.
"You guys thought you would have no place in my wedding party! Hermione is going to be my maid of honour and the rest of you are going to be my bridesmaids. I couldn't leave you out of this," Bella said and her friends immediately engulfed her.
"Are you sure you want me as your maid of honour?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Of course, you were my first friend, and accepted me for me. I couldn't pick a better person to be my maid of honour," Bella said, as the 2 friends embraced tighter.
"Let's hurry, we don't want to be out all day. The guys will get worried about us," Ginny said, and they broke apart.
Bella nodded and they proceeded to continue down the street. Finally, they came to the Beautiful Lily.
The outside of the store was beautiful and well done. The stones were a pure white alabaster colour, and there were these large stained glass windows that let just the right amount of light enter the building. The windows were made up of lily flowers, tulips, lakes, and brides in dresses. It was a very well thought of design. There were also doves on the window.
The 4 friends entered the store and were greeted by the bustled sound of brides and bridesmaids looking for dresses and the store employees trying to help them.
Bella must have stood out because 20 seconds after they entered the store, a young woman came towards the group.
"Welcome to the Beautiful Lily. My name is Zoe. How can I help you today?" the woman named Zoe said in a very friendly manner.
"Hello, my name is Bella Snape. I booked an appointment yesterday for today. These are my best friends that have come to help me," Bella told the young woman, who looked to be about 25.
"Of course, you can all follow me this way," Zoe led the 4 friends through the store.
They passed several dressing rooms and show rooms that were being used by other bridal parties.
"If you 3 can wait here. I need to have a private talk with the bride," Zoe dropped Luna, Hermione, and Ginny off at a show room, where they sat on the comfortable couch.
"See you soon Bella," Luna said in her ethereal voice.
Bella waved and followed Zoe to a nearby dressing/consultation room. The room was small, with a couple chairs for people to sit on, as well as hooks for the dresses, and a full-length mirror.
"Well Bella, first of all congratulations on your big day," Zoe started off by saying.
"Thank you so much," Bella replied to the sales rep.
"So, what would you like your dress to look like?" Zoe continued.
Bella stopped to ponder for a moment; she had a few ideas, but wanted to make sure that they were feasible.
"Yes, I want my dress to be a pure white, mermaid style dress with some kind of black accent on it," Bella said and waited for the question that she was sure would come.
"Why black?" asked Zoe.
"My dad just passed away and it was his signature colour," Bella looked down at the floor, as she remembered that he would not be with her on her wedding day.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. We don't have a lot like that, but we may have one that I think you will love," Zoe quickly got up and left the consultation room.
5 minutes later, she returned with a dress that took Bella's breath away. It was pure white, in a mermaid style, with beaded accents all over the dress. But what made Bella start to tear up was that the black accents on the dress were flowers, all interconnected until they extended to the breast area of this strapless dress.
"I hope this dress is to your satisfaction, it was the only one I could find with any black on it," Zoe said, as she helped the bride-to-be into the dress.
"I love it," Bella simply said, as she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror. She couldn't wait for her friends to see this dress.
Bella and Zoe exited the consultation/dressing room and made their way to the showroom, where Hermione, Ginny, and Luna were still sitting patiently.
"Oh my goodness," Hermione said, as she was the first one to turn around and spot her beautiful friend.
The others followed suit and all gasped at the amazing sight before them. Bella was dress in a beautiful white dress that had black flowers everywhere.
As Bella stepped onto the pedestal in front of another large mirror, she started to cry. This was the day she was most dreading because she knew that her dad would not be the one to give her away.
"That is the most beautiful wedding dress I have ever seen," Ginny piped up and brought Bella out of her misery.
"Neville will absolutely flip when he sees you in tis," Luna shared her feelings, and noticed the fresh tear streaks down Bella's cheeks.
"Are you okay Bella?" Luna asked, as the others saw the tears as well.
"I'm fine, it just dawning on me how hard it's going to be without my dad at my wedding," Bella said, as she blocked her tear-filled eyes from her best friends.
"He will always be near, but he wouldn't want you to be mourning him right now. He'd want you to be smiling and enjoying this new stage in your life," Hermione tried to comfort her friend.
"You're right," Bella exclaimed, as she wiped her eyes clean of tears.
"So is this your dress?" Zoe asked.
"This is my dress," Bella responded with renewed excitement and happiness.
The four girls left the store having found both a wedding dress for Bella and bridesmaid dress for the other 3. They returned back to Spinner's End to see how the boys had made out with their day of shopping.
