Fleur laid awake that night. He had wrapped his arms around her, held her close against his warm, naked chest. She couldn't believe it. It was as he could understand all of her deep innermost fantasies.

At some point in the night, sleep had taken her and then she had awoken to sunrise. She looked over at the clock in a fluster, and was relieved to see the small hand pointed towards the nine. They had agreed to meet at eleven, so they might get some early lunch then make their way to wherever they were headed.

She washed and pulled on her sweat suit. It was not the cutest: grey sweatpants and a blue hoodie. But, the weather was still bitter and she didn't want to catch a cold wherever he was taking her.

She thought of his hands whilst she was in the shower. They felt so huge as he had held her tightly. She had never seen such hands before, and she longed to see them again, for them to touch her…

She snapped herself out of her fantasy and ran to the door. She had taken a while to get ready, and Bill had made some effort to be early and the combination of both things caused her to bump into the back of him as she bounded from the front door.

He turned to her, smiling down at her adorable outfit, then looked down at himself. He was as he always was: dragon hide boots, velvet smoking jacket, fang earring. He had never been much for hiking, so he didn't have cute clothes like her. But he knew his boots would take him across any terain they would encounter.

The morning was surprisingly cool for the summer and Fleur was glad she had worn her hoodie. They sat in the corner of a restaurant and slurped on soup.
"Did you sleep well?" She asked him and he nodded.
"It is nice having Sirius in the house." He responded in earnest and she could understand why being alone in that big old place would put anyone on edge.

Bill lead her down Diagon Alley, until they reached a small antique shop. The man behind the desk smiled as he noticed the red hair and began leading Bill to the back. Fleur stayed close and furrowed her brows when they came across a key.
"This'll be the one, Mr Weasley." He announced and Bill smirked back at Fleur.
"You need to take my hand." He told her and she wiped her fingers against her sweats absentmindedly, before placing her fingers in his and before anything could be said, he touched the port key.

Fleur was flustered as she came to at the bottom of a woody hill.
"Where is this?" She asked and he looked back at her.
"It's a place my dad used to take me all the time. You're going to love it!" He assured her and she nodded in a determined kind of way, walking past him, ready to take on the hike.

Bill fit in well in the wilderness. His earth tones and wild locks made him seem as if he was an elf, lost in amongst the trees. Fleur smiled as she thought of it and he cocked his head to the side in confusion.
"You look very well out here." She explained and his cheeks blushed lightly.
"Is that to say I don't look well everywhere else?" He asked and she cursed at him in French.
"Why do you twist my words?" She asked and he chuckled at her reaction.
"Because then I get to hear your French." He answered her and she was stunned into silence.

They walked for a while before they began speaking again.
"You have a large family." She stated and he nodded.
"That I do." He agreed and she was unsure where to take that conversation.
"I have a sister." She told him.
"She's just started at Beauxbatons." She expanded and he sighed.
"These next few years will be so hard for them, just the same as Ginny." He told her and she rather liked when he played the role of sympathetic brother. She had thought of him as a kind of lone wolf, but there was concern there, behind his features.

They stopped for a moment, for water. The sun was blotted out by the canopy of trees and they found themselves in relative darkness. Fleur leant against a tree and she liked how he towered over her and rested his forearm above her head. He smelt so good, unlike any man her father had ever introduced her to. He was gritty and rustic and she wished she could take the lapels of his jacket and pull him closer…

He wondered what she was thinking about. He liked to watch her as her mind wandered. He wished he could take a peak into her mind and see what laid there, especially in reference to him. He kept thinking of what Ron had said: Everyone who has ever met her loves her! And he was sure his brother was right. It was hard not to be enthralled by her beauty and her wit and the way she radiated a soothing, elegant energy. But, when he thought of any other wizard loving her, wanting her, even if it was his very own brother, he wanted to rip the tree from the ground and throw it at whoever dare think that way.

They carried on until they reached the peak of the trail. They had headed off later than they had anticipated and when they arrived at the peak, sunset was beginning to fall and the lanterns had been illuminated in the local village.

Fleur stood on the edge of the precipice and looked down with wonder in her eyes. It was everything she had wanted to see: forests and fields and a small town square, illuminated by the ethereal glow of lanterns. It was perfect.

Bill went to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back from the edge.
"What will I say to the goblins if you fall?" He whispered into her ear and she shook her head, unsure how he would explain her demise.
"I just want to see it all." She told him and he squeezed her a little tighter, glad that she had not moved his arms away from her waist.

Soon, the space was filled with the song of nocturnal birds and the sound of a small band beginning their show. She leant back against his shoulder and sighed, it was all so dream-like, as if she had fallen asleep on their trail.

He turned her and took her hands in his.
"Dance with me?" He asked in a move that was rather uncharacteristic of him. He was no dancer and she was in hiking trainers, but he wanted nothing more in that moment than to spin in small circles with her, in the dim glow of lanterns.

Fleur placed her head on his chest as they began rotating slowly. She had not danced since the Yule ball and this felt so wholly different. There was nobody watching, no expectations to meet. She felt the music rush through her and felt her feet move accordingly.

Bill could not remember the last time that he had been so happy. He was sure that to anyone on the outside, they would have looked ridiculous. But in the moment, in that embrace, he had everything he had ever wanted.
"Fleur-" He was unsure how to finish. He rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand and hoped that she might get the idea. But it seemed that she was waiting for him to continue.
"Fleur, I have never felt like this before." He told her and presumed that it was a rather safe statement.

She felt the breath leave her lungs. She had known how she felt from the moment that he had shaken her hand at Gringotts. But for him to reciprocate? She had never considered it.
"I have never met a man like you before." She agreed with him and when she looked up into his eyes, she saw such hope there, such innocent hope, that she herself felt as if they could achieve anything.
"I never want to be parted from you." She admitted and he leant down then, stopping their circles, taking her face in his hands, pressing his lips against hers.

Fleur was in ecstacy. It felt as if every night that she had remembered the orange hair, the fang earring, the leather trousers, it had not been in vain. This was her wizard, the one she was meant to find and she was his witch in the very same way.

The kiss lasted for longer than either of them could have considered, but once their lips were parted, it was as if a promise had been made, an oath between them, unspoken but unbreakable. They were to be bound together, for as long as they were to both walk the earth.