Married in Purple
The next weekend, Audrey picked Lucy up from the train station and took her to Prewcross Grange. The grange was fortunately large enough to support a large number of guests, including Sebastian Mellows, Penelope Clearwater (tanned and looking much better for her new life in Greece), and the entire immediate Weasley clan. Others, such as Audrey's friends in the Resistance, would arrive on the day of.
Lucy stood in the driveway, with her camera under one arm, and gave a low whistle as she surveyed the place.
"Are you marrying him just for the castle?" she asked. "Because it's not bad, as castles go."
"Yes, Mum, I'm marrying him for the real estate – and it's not technically a castle. Come on in, your room has a fantastic view."
They stopped on the upper landing, Lucy laying a hand on Audrey's arm. "There it is," she said, glimpsing something white in Audrey's bedroom.
"Mum, you've seen my wedding dress before. As I recall, you were there when I bought it."
"Yes, but seeing it hanging up – it's really happening. I must take a picture of it. The north light is very good at this hour."
Audrey hung a bit awkwardly in the doorway while Lucy took several photographs of the wedding dress, which looked quite prosaic to Audrey's eyes. Lucy wiped her eyes as she closed up the aperture.
"That's done, then, thank you for the detour," she said. "That purple duster hanging beside it – are you going to wear it?"
"Yes," Audrey said staunchly. "It was a gift from Penelope. It has powerful magic woven into it," she added.
"Did it save someone's life?"
"More than that. It saved my memory."
Lucy nodded, as if that made perfect sense. "But the elephants - ? I remember you had elephants on your mobile as a baby."
"Then that was foreshadowing for this duster. It's not negotiable."
Lucy fingered the purple cloth. "That's a good way of looking at it, then," she said. "And speaking of foreshadowing… well, where's my room?"
Audrey showed her, and Lucy laid her suitcase on the bed and unzipped it carefully. She then pulled out a plastic bag that had something white and transparent inside.
"Mum…" Audrey breathed. "That's yours – your veil?"
"The very same. Simple headdress, really, but I figure it'll match the dress… I suppose I should have asked, but if you don't want to wear it…"
"I do want to wear it," Audrey said. "Mum, thank you."
000
The wedding was going to be very traditional in one aspect: after sunrise, Percy and Audrey would not be allowed to see each other until the wedding itself. They slept apart the night before.
After tossing and turning most of the night (another long-held bridal tradition), Audrey left her bed at two in the morning and tiptoed downstairs for a cup of tea. Chamomile, perhaps – she needed to get some rest.
As she approached the kitchen door, she got a strong feeling that someone was already in there. With a happy presentiment, she pushed open the door and saw Percy. He was sitting at the table with a kettle heating up behind him. Hearing the creaking hinges, he turned and smiled when he saw Audrey.
"Couldn't sleep, huh?" Audrey asked.
Percy shook his head. "I've been thinking about the future."
"Me, too."
"Would you join me for a cup of tea? It's not sunrise yet, so I'm allowed to look at you."
"A cup of tea sounds lovely. And a round of – what are those, playing cards?"
"Tarot." Percy up a card marked "The Fool."
"You read tarot cards?" Audrey slipped into place opposite him, a mug and bag of chamomile tea in her hands. She shook her head with a smile. "You are full of surprises, Percival Weasley."
"Me?" He asked, grinning. "Well, I don't often hear that." When the kettle started to sing, he poured the water for both of them, and added, "I took Divination when I was at Hogwarts. I wanted to be sure of my future, down to the last detail. And it seemed like an easy class."
"Was it?"
He nodded. "Yes… but I never had any talent at Divination. I think Ron has the knack, though." He lined all the cards up in his palms and started to shuffle them – and he did a dismal job.
"Oh, give those to me," Audrey said. He handed them over, and she proceeded to cut and shuffle the deck with ease. After a while, Percy spoke up.
"Would you like me to read your future?"
Audrey stopped. She tucked a curl back and looked at him. "Sure," she said. "Why not?" She laid the cards flat, as Percy instructed, and added an important amendment: "Our future."
"We're sharing a future," Percy said, his voice low.
"Are you nervous?"
"Excited, rather. I mean, we're already committed. A little ceremony tomorrow won't change anything too dramatically."
"Exactly. We're certain right now."
"Certain right now." He smiled. "I just… it's a lot to take in. Draw five cards, please, and lay them like so…"
The five cards were laid out in a cross shape, still face-down. Percy stared at them a long time before turning them over, prompting Audrey to say, "This is all in good fun, right, love?"
"Of course it is," he said, "I'm just getting into the… er, the right mindset." He rubbed his eyes. "Maybe I am taking it a mite too seriously. Alright. The first card."
He flipped over the card at the bottom of the spread, closest to Audrey. "The Lovers," Percy read with no small satisfaction. He recited, as if by rote, "Love, intimacy, passion. Picking your life path. Finding the person or cause that completes you."
"Well, that's a good omen," Audrey said, admiring the little moving Adam-and-Eve scene on the card. "Bit on the nose, though."
"Are you complaining?"
"Not me." She grinned.
Percy shook his head a little. "Our future," he said. "What else does our future hold?" He turned over the card to the right of center. It showed an older man dressed all in red, wearing a crown and holding a royal scepter. "The Emperor. Another major arcana card. Authority, power… Ambition. I'm tempted to say this represents my career path. Very… hmm."
"Ambition is a good thing," Audrey pointed out. "If no one was ever ambitious, we'd all still be primordial ooze."
"Thank you," Percy said, not looking up from the cards. "I'm… I'm a bit afraid. Of what I've been. What I sacrificed to ambition. What I might lose again."
"Don't be afraid," Audrey said, reaching out and taking his hand. "You were young and stupid. Now, you know better… And you've got me," she added.
"I've got you," he repeated. He squeezed her hand and turned over the card to the left of center. It revealed a staff sprouting leaves with a background of flames. "Ace of Wands. Courage, energy, growth… fertility."
"Ooh la la." Percy's ears went red, and Audrey covered her mouth with her hands. "Percy! It's the eve of our wedding, we can talk about fertility!"
"The Ace of Wands can also signify a creative endeavor," he said, and then burst out in chuckles. He and Audrey tried unsuccessfully to shush each other for a few minutes, all the while their tea oversteeped and went from hot to lukewarm. When they had sorted out their giggles and poured out the tea, Audrey looked back at the Ace of Wands card.
"A creative endeavor, huh?" she said. "Maybe that's my career. Maybe I'll become an artist."
"That's a good idea," Percy said. "Maybe I will, too."
"We'll both quit our jobs and become bohemians."
"Live in a little caravan."
"Sell watercolors."
"Mmfph." After a brief kiss, Percy settled back in his chair, and turned over the card closest to him. "Six of cups. This card usually has to do with children." He tapped the image, which showed two little children in a garden. "We're going to have…"
"Six children?" Audrey asked in a horrified whisper.
"No! I was going to say two!"
"Oh." Audrey put a hand on her heart. "I was not ready for that… two children is reasonable. That I can do. And…" she looked more closely at the card. "Those children look happy."
"Yeah, they do."
"And what's the last card?"
He turned over the card in the center. It showed a young woman pouring water into a pool under a starry sky. "The Star," he said, with some surprise. "Hope, inspiration, confidence. I think Professor Trelawney said that the Star doesn't mean you have all the answers, but it is a step in the right direction." His ears turned pink again under Audrey's smiling gaze. "Er, she tended to mix her metaphors…"
"I love it," Audrey brought them their cups of tea. "That sounds like a future worth working towards."
"Working?"
"Oh, yes, marriage is work. I'm prepared to work hard."
"I'm prepared for a lot of joy," Percy admitted.
"We'll find a balance." Audrey raised her cup to him. "We'll figure it out together."
Percy clinked his cup to hers. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Now avert your eyes, the sun is coming up."
Percy kissed her instead.
000
The morning dawned. Most of the cooking had been done the night before, but Ron was put in charge of heating and last minute preparations in the kitchen, while Ginny and Hermione handled most of the setup of the reception site. George and Harry decorated the great hall, where the wedding ceremony would be held. Percy, once he was dressed, was put to work greeting guests, along with Mr. Weasley.
Fleur and Bill stayed in the kitchen, fixing up breakfast for everyone. Audrey hurriedly scarfed down some yogurt and muesli before she was shepherded back up to her room, where Angelina would help her get dressed, Lucy would take pictures, and Mrs. Weasley would… er… supervise.
She and Lucy hung in the doorway, watching the process. Angelina zipped Audrey's dress up – and commented, "I was expecting much more of an ordeal, to be honest. A bustle, or a crinoline, or something. Layers and layers of poofiness."
As Audrey shook her head, smiling – she couldn't stop smiling – Mrs. Weasley spoke up from the door.
"You can get a lot of use out of a dress like that," she pointed out. "Dye it a new color and you can wear it again and again."
"That's very practical," Lucy said. She knelt and took a picture of Audrey applying blush. Angelina stood back.
When Lucy returned to the doorway, Mrs. Weasley ventured, "When I was married, we hadn't the budget for a new dress," she said, "so I just wore my best – powder blue, with a white belt."
"'Married in blue, you'll always be true,'" Lucy recited.
Mrs. Weasley looked surprised. "Oh, is that what you Muggles say?"
"Non-magical folk," Audrey whispered to her mother.
"I remember that much," Lucy replied, at regular volume, and then turned back to Mrs. Weasley. "Yes – do witches have a different rhyme?"
"I can hear my mother now," Mrs. Weasley smiled at the memory. "'Married in blue, good potions you'll brew.'
"How clever!" Lucy said. "What about pink? 'Your fortunes will sink.'"
"'On Charms you'll think.' Brown?"
"'Live out of town.'"
"That's the very same! Isn't that funny?"
"Who would have thought?" Lucy asked. "Audrey, can you believe this?"
"I'm a little busy at the moment, Mum," Audrey said, keeping her head as still as possible while Angelina twisted her curls up, "but by all means, keep talking."
Angelina caught Audrey's eye in the mirror, and grinned with impish humor. Audrey grinned back.
While the mother of the bride and mother of the groom worked their way through the rainbow, Audrey's wedding appearance took shape in the mirror. She looked beautiful, and refined, and, she thought, very different from her everyday self – the self that Percy loved. Perhaps she was a little too refined? Should she try and cultivate some disorder or disarray?
No, Audrey decided. First of all, there'd been too much work put into her hair and makeup to dishevel it now. And second of all, wedding days were set apart, meant to be a step away from the day-to-day life of a marriage. They were a kind of magic.
Audrey's eyes lit up in the mirror at that thought. 'I am working a kind of magic,' she thought.
"Married in green?" Lucy was saying in the doorway. "We had 'ashamed to be seen.'"
"'Married in green, live like a queen,' Mrs. Weasley replied. "Of course, we wizards are very fond of emerald."
"And teal, I notice. You look lovely."
"Thank you. You, as well."
"You're too kind," Lucy demurred.
"And besides, not all queens lived happily, so really best to settle with white."
"'Married in white, you'll have chosen all right.' And that's my Audrey." Lucy turned back to her daughter, and there were tears in her eyes now. "My little girl. You look so lovely." She lifted her camera swiftly and snapped a few photographs.
"Are you happy with what you're getting?" Audrey asked her mother.
"Delighted. And how are you doing?"
Angelina, behind Audrey, slid the last pin into place, and pulled out one last curl. "You look amazing."
"Thank you." Audrey patted her hairstyle. "I think I'm ready for the veil."
000
Lucy walked Audrey up the aisle. The only thing that Audrey could focus on was Percy, at the end of the great hall. The rest was a blur of smiles – faces she loved – a fog of happiness.
When she reached him, the officiant was still searching for the right place in his book, and Percy leaned over to Audrey to whisper, "You look beautiful."
She murmured a thank-you. She looked down at the sleeves of her jacket. "You know how people say 'Married in white, chosen all right' sort of things?"
"Yes?"
"There's nothing for purple, is there?"
Percy thought, and shook his head. "I don't believe purple has a rhyme."
"I have an idea for one. 'Married in purple, asking for trouble.'"
"But that's – "
His blue eyes met hers, and she thought, 'I will wake up to those eyes every day for the rest of my life.' She had never felt so happy.
"You know," he said, "I think that's perfect for us."
Audrey could almost see it unspooling ahead of them – their married life, with its inevitable troubles and sorrows, and they would always have "asking for trouble" as their phrase, their joke, their shield.
The officiant cleared his throat. "Are you ready?" he asked.
Audrey and Percy stood shoulder to shoulder. She slipped a hand into his, and they nodded.
Ready.
THE END
A/N: First of all, thank you to the readers. If it weren't for you, this story would have remained a humble little one-shot. As it is, it has gone on for some six years – wow – sometimes made up as I went along, sometimes planned out, but always heading towards this scene, towards a marriage in purple. Because I'm a sap for weddings.
It's crazy to think of. When this story started, I was still in college. I was reading David Copperfield – that's why Audrey's surname is Trotwood. Now I've lived in France twice, finished a few NaNoWriMo's, finished a real grown-up novel (look for it with the Book Smugglers) and I know a bit more about love than I did when I started – sometimes to my sorrow. My love for Harry Potter has not waned. I hope I've grown up some as a writer.
For every review, for every visit, for everyone who believed in Audrey and in my Percy – thank you, a thousand times thank you.