"Everybody wants to live happily ever after. Everybody wants to know their true love is true."

-Giselle (Enchanted)

Scarlett returned with her mother to the Burrow on the 31st of July for Harry's party. They Apparated just outside of the protective charm boundaries and walked to the Burrow together.

"It's awfully nice of Molly to throw Harry a birthday party, don't you think?" Scarlett's mother said as they walked. "You know, under the circumstances."

"I think that's part of why she's doing it," Scarlett shrugged. "And because he's practically like another son to her."

"I heard Charlie came back from Romania today for the party and he's staying until a few days after the wedding." Out of the corner of her eye, Scarlett saw her mother glance at her, but she chose to ignore it. She knew why her mother was bringing up Charlie and trying to figure out how Scarlett felt about seeing him again. If it hadn't been for Charlie, the whole Unbreakable Vow thing might never have happened.

"Yeah, Fred told me. Bill asked Charlie to be his best man. It'll be nice to see him again," Scarlett answered, deciding the best thing to do was play dumb and not bring up the vow. However, her mother decided from there to get right to the point.

"You can thank him for bringing you and Fred together."

"I'm not sure that's exactly what he did," Scarlett giggled. "He just made things chaotic and complicated."

They finally reached the Burrow and headed straight for the backyard, where they could hear voices.

It seemed like almost everyone had already arrived. Hagrid was there, and so were Lupin, Tonks and Sirius in addition to every Weasley family member, minus Percy. Scarlett didn't see Mr. or Mrs. Weasley, but she expected Mrs. Weasley was busy cooking and Mr. Weasley was probably finishing up at work.

As for decorations, streamers and lanterns had been added to the nearby trees, giving the yard a beautiful glow. In the middle of the yard, two tables had been pushed together to make one large one and it was surrounded by enough chairs for everyone. No one was sitting down, yet, though. They were all standing around, laughing and enjoying themselves.

"I'm going to go inside and see if Molly needs any help with dinner," Scarlett's mother whispered into her daughter's ear.

Scarlett nodded as she continued to look around the yard. She spotted Harry a few feet away, talking to Hagrid, so she made her way over there first. "Hi, Hagrid, hi, Harry. Happy Birthday!" She handed him the card she and her mother had bought for him.

"Thanks," he said, taking it from her.

"How are you doing?" she asked gently. "Still aren't thinking of leaving, are you?"

"No, not yet anyway," he sighed.

"What do you mean, not yet?"

"It's a long story, but it has to do with You-Know-Who and finally getting rid of him. I have to go and do that. I promised Dumbledore."

"Ah," Scarlett answered. Naturally, she was confused, but she felt it was best to not ask any questions. Even if she did ask questions, she doubted Harry would provide any answers.

Looking around again, she saw Fred and Charlie standing over near the tables, talking and drinking firewhiskey. With a wave to Harry and Hagrid, she made her way over and aimed a gentle kick at Charlie's ankle. "Hey, I've got a bone to pick with you."

Charlie whirled around in surprise and blinked twice. "Scarlett!" he finally said, giving her a hug. "It's been a while."

"It has," she smiled. "I believe the last time I saw you was when you performed an Unbreakable Vow on me and Fred. But I don't actually remember it. You see, my memory was modified." She gave him a pointed look.

"Hey, Bill did the whole memory thing," Charlie said, holding up his hands in defense.

"He wouldn't have had to if it hadn't been for you," Fred said, picking up Scarlett's hand and taking a sip of his firewhiskey.

Charlie's ears turned red and he glanced between Fred and Scarlett. "Yeah, I am sorry about that and also for not coming forward about it sooner." He smiled sheepishly, before brightening. "But, hey, I hear you two are a couple now so maybe that balances out my act of stupidity?" He smiled hopefully and gave them a thumbs up.

"Hmm, what do you think, Fred?" Scarlett asked, unable to hold back her grin as she looked at her boyfriend.

"I don't know," Fred shrugged, grinning as well. "I suppose that sounds reasonable."

"I think so, too," Scarlett agreed. "But," she added, looking at Charlie and poking his arm, which was tanned and covered in burns, "don't think for one second it was easy for me and Fred to get to this point. It still isn't easy."

"You mean you didn't hear the news, have an epiphany, realize I was right for performing the vow and then proceed to fall in a beautiful, head over heels, can't live without you kind of love?" Charlie gasped.

Fred laughed. "If only it had been that easy. We'd be married already if it happened that way."

"Why haven't you tied the knot, then?" Charlie asked, peering at them curiously over the top of his firewhiskey bottle. "Please, enlighten me on these hardships of your lives."

"Where to begin?" Scarlett sighed. "It's kind of a long story, but we basically aren't sure how exactly we're going to do it. We had issues with a lady at the Ministry and don't want to bring her attention to the vow. And your dad unfortunately isn't qualified."

Charlie nodded. "Makes sense to me."

Not long after, Mrs. Weasley had finished dinner and had set everything on the table, but Mr. Weasley still wasn't back from work.

"Well, let's eat now," Mrs. Weasley said, looking towards the edge of the yard as if she thought staring long enough would make Mr. Weasley appear. "I don't see why we can't start now. I'm sure Arthur will be back soon enough anyway."

Scarlett sat between Fred and Ginny and just as they were about to start eating, Fred pointed across the yard. "There's Dad," he said, "but he's not alone. He has the Minister with him."

"The Minister," Mrs. Weasley gasped, standing up and looking sthe two men approaching them.

Lupin and Tonks immediately stood up as well and started backing away towards the other side of the yard. "We're really sorry, Harry," Lupin said, "but we can't be here. It's a long story. We'll explain another time." And just like that, without leaving room for a reply, they had run to the other side of the yard and disappeared.

As it turned out, Scrimgeour had decided to pay a visit to discuss something with Harry, Ron and Hermione. The three of them shared confused looks before following him into the Burrow.

"What does he want with them?" Ginny asked.

"I think he wants to discuss Dumbledore's will," Mr. Weasley said in an undertone as he took a seat at the table and glanced back at the house.

"His will? But he died a little over a month ago," Scarlett said in surprise. "If he left them things, shouldn't they have gotten it sooner?"

"They wanted to examine the items left in the will," Mr. Weasley replied. "That's the only explanation I can think of."

"Why would they want to do that?" Mrs. Weasley scoffed.

Mr. Weasley shrugged. "Probably to try and figure out why Dumbledore left what he did and what, if anything, he may have expected to be done with the items."

Mrs. Weasley sighed and shook her head as if she thought the whole thing was ridiculous. In fact, that probably was what she thought and she wouldn't be wrong. The Ministry was being entirely too nosy.

After about ten minutes, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Minister returned. Harry, Ron and Hermione were each carrying something in their hands as they sat back down at the table, while the Minister remained standing.

"I'll be leaving now," he said, staring around with a stony expression on his face. "I don't want to intrude on your little gathering more than I already have." With that, he turned and headed back across the yard.

"What a ray of sunshine," Scarlett said under her breath as she leaned back in her chair. Fred, who had heard her, began to laugh.

"What did he want with you three?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"To give us what Dumbledore left us in his will," Harry answered.

"That's what I thought. What did he leave you?"

The three objects began to be passed around the table. Ron had been left a Deluminator, which could control the lighting in a room. Hermione had been left Dumbledore's copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of magical children's tales that Scarlett had read only once as a child. She had enjoyed them, but had always liked Muggle fairy tales a little bit more.

"I remember these," Fred said, giving a small laugh as he held the book in his hand and flipped through the pages. "I loved them as a kid."

"When you and George were first learning to read," Mrs. Weasley began, smiling fondly at the memory, "I caught the two of you in Ginny's room one night, taking turns reading those stories to help her fall asleep. It was adorable, but still quite funny to watch you slowly make your way through, stumbling over words here and there, but acting as if you had been reading for ages. I think I have a picture somewhere…."

Scarlett giggled as Fred blushed. "I wish I could've seen that," she whispered, picking up Fred's hand. "I think it's sweet."

Fred blushed even more. "Yeah?"

Scarlett nodded. "But you have to admit, the stories I told you are better, right?"

"What if I told you they were tied?" Fred asked, smiling hopefully.

Scarlett laughed. "Sounds good to me."

Out of the three items left behind, Harry's turned out to be the most confusing. Dumbledore had left him the Snitch he had caught during his first Quidditch match, and the sword of Gryffindor. Except Scrimgeour hadn't actually handed over the sword, claiming that it didn't rightfully belong to Harry because it wasn't Dumbledore's to give away in the first place.

Once the gifts were finished being passed around, they were finally able to enjoy the delicious food Mrs. Weasley had cooked, which included a birthday cake shaped like a Snitch for dessert.

"I may never eat again," Fred groaned, leaning back in his chair and patting his stomach.

"That was delicious, Mrs. Weasley," Scarlett said.

"Thank you, dear. I'm glad you enjoyed it."

A few minutes later, the party had come to an end. Since everyone was attending the wedding the next day, most people with the exception of Scarlett's mother, were staying over at the Burrow. Scarlett was only staying because Fred had pleaded with her and Ginny had joined in a moment later. Her mother, as well as Erica, would be arriving the next day in time for the wedding.

Scarlett helped her mother and Mrs. Weasley clear the dishes off the table and once everything was cleared, Scarlett headed back outside once more to gather the tablecloth.

"Hey."

The voice came just as Scarlett was reaching for the tablecloth and she jumped, looking around in alarm.

Fred was standing a few feet away, leaning against a tree trunk. The lanterns in the tree were still lit, casting a glow over his freckled face. The streamers, which had once been hanging neatly, were now falling down, hanging haphazardly from branches and swaying in the breeze.

"Hey yourself," Scarlett replied, smiling slightly. "You scared me."

"I know. I saw you jump," Fred smirked, looking on the verge of laughter. After a moment, he held out his hand and gestured with a tilt of his head. "Come here."

Scarlett did as he said and walked over, placing her hand in his.

"Did you have fun?" he asked quietly, brushing her hair behind her ear with his free hand.

"I did," she answered with a grin. "Did you?"

Fred nodded. "I think a big contributing factor was that you were here, though."

Scarlett smiled, but didn't respond. Instead, she chose to hold up their intertwined hands and examine them.

"Your hands are so callused," she observed, uncurling Fred's fingers from her own and lightly touching the calluses on his palm.

"It's what years of playing Quidditch as a Beater does to you," he answered, staring down at his hand as well. His eyes flicked up to meet Scarlett's. "Why, you don't like them?"

"They're cute," she answered, trying to hide her smirk. "Beautiful, even."

Fred laughed. "Is that going to be a thing between us now?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about," Scarlett said, looking up at him with a dramatically innocent expression.

"Yes, you do."

Scarlett grinned and held up Fred's hand so that his palm was facing him. "Don't you agree, though?"

"I don't know about that." Fred smiled and shook his head.

"Well, would you like it if I told you the calluses made you look manlier?"

"That I like to hear." Fred chuckled and took Scarlett's hand again. "Dance with me?" he asked after a pause.

"There's no music," Scarlett pointed out, "so if you're planning on singing, then no."

"Hey, you've never heard me sing! I could be amazing at it for all you know."

"Mm, but something tells me you're not."

"You're right, which is why I planned ahead and hid a radio behind this tree." Grinning, Fred pulled his wand out of his pocket with his free hand and waved it in a direction over his shoulder. When music started playing, he grinned wider and stowed his wand away once more. "Now will you dance with me?"

"Sure," Scarlett replied.

Fred pulled her to him with the hand holding onto hers, sliding his free hand around her waist. Scarlett's free hand found its way to the back of Fred's neck and she began lightly playing with his hair.

"When I was really little," she whispered after a moment, "my dad used to put music on and he and I would dance together. A lot of the time I'd stand on his feet while we danced…there's a picture of us like that on the nightstand in my bedroom. Anyway, then he'd always grab my mum and start dancing with her. I always liked to watch them. It thought it lovely. They looked so happy…." She trailed off and took a deep breath. She was looking straight up at the sky, her head tipped back as she stared at the stars without even really seeing them, focused solely on the memory in her mind.

"That could be us one day," Fred whispered.

Scarlett looked back at him, waiting for him to continue.

"You still have a chance to be happily married. You and I…we're happy dating, aren't we?"

"Yeah, of course. I do think we can be happy when we're married, but I know we're still working our way through….There's no guarantee and I think that's what scares me. It's what's been scaring me."

"There's never any guarantee, even with normal marriages," Fred argued.

Scarlett didn't answer. Fred did have a point, of course. And she did like him enough where she felt they could be happily married, even more so than before since they were now dating. The only thing that concerned her was that she hadn't fallen in love with him yet and she couldn't exactly figure out why. It was almost as if she was subconsciously holding back so that she wouldn't get hurt. Even though she knew that Fred was the one she'd be spending the rest of her life with no matter what, she worried about things going wrong between them. If she fell in love, she'd not only be heartbroken, but also stuck in a marriage with him. Maybe it was petty, but she still worried about it.

She also knew there shouldn't have been any pressure. She fell in love when she fell in love. She had to let things happen naturally. There was certainly pressure for them to get married, but the falling in love part could technically happen at any time. The only thing was that she didn't want it to take forever. She wanted a happy, typical marriage where she was completely head over heels for her husband.

"We'll figure this out, Scar," Fred assured her. "Together, we'll figure it out, okay?"

Scarlett nodded and rested her head on his chest as they continued to dance under the tree, surrounded by glowing lanterns and flowing streamers.

The next morning, Scarlett woke up to the curtains in Ginny's room being thrown open by Fleur, who had shared the room with Scarlett, Hermione and Ginny herself.

"Wake up!" Fleur chirped, clapping her hands together. "We have a busy day today!"

"You have a busy day today," Scarlett muttered, pulling the covers tighter around her. "It's your wedding."

"Yes, but you are all coming to my wedding! And Geeny eez a bridesmaid! So all of us have a busy day!"

"It's early and I'm tired," Scarlett sighed. "Just give me a few minutes to get up."

"No, you must get up now," Fleur said, and Scarlett just knew she was putting her hands on her hips. "Besides, you wouldn't be so tired if you hadn't been out so late weeth Fred last night!"

"Were you spying on me or something?" Scarlett asked, peering at Fleur through an opening of the blanket cocoon she was wrapped in.

"Well," Fleur began, dragging out the word and glancing at Ginny, who had been sitting up in bed trying to stifle a yawn, but was now trying to stifle a giggle.

"Fleur, Sirius, Bill, Charlie, George and I watched you from Charlie's bedroom window," Ginny explained. "And we heard everything you said. Well, George did with his new super ear. And you can't complain, because the ear was your idea!"

"You heard everything?" Scarlett squeaked, sitting up rapidly. Now she was awake.

Fleur and Ginny nodded and looked at each other before bursting into fits of laughter.

"Ooh, Fred," Fleur mimicked, fluttering her eyelashes and grabbing Ginny's hand, "your hands are so callused! Zey are so cute and beautiful!"

"Why thank you," Ginny said, lowering her voice to imitate Fred. "Now why don't we dance to music provided by the radio I hid out here because I'm such a romantic sap!"

Scarlett stared in amusement as the two girls burst out laughing again. She even had to laugh at how ridiculous they were making everything seem. "If Fred heard you saying all that…" she began, smiling slightly.

"Oh, don't worry, he's probably hearing it from George right now," Ginny said.

"We weren't that bad," Scarlett insisted, actually trying not to laugh herself.

"You should have seen George," Ginny continued, sighing as her giggles subsided. "The way he was relaying everything you two said…."

"He's quite dramatic when he wants to be," Fleur said. "He put on quite a show."

"I can only imagine," Scarlett sighed. Her eyes fell on Hermione, who had been oddly quiet and was sitting on her bed with her nose in a small beaded bag as she stared into it anxiously. "What about you, Hermione?" Scarlett asked. "Were you in on this as well?"

Hermione jumped and looked up as she snapped the beaded bag shut. "What? Oh, no, I was with Harry and Ron up in Ron's room."

"Oh," Scarlett answered, looking at her curiously. "What's going on? You seem pretty quiet, and, well…jumpy."

"Nothing," Hermione replied, glancing at the bag in her hands and standing up. "I'm just going to go make sure the bathroom's available." With that, she hurried out of the room.

"They're planning on leaving," Ginny said to Scarlett in an undertone, glancing at Fleur, who was pulling makeup out of a bag on the dresser, to make sure she wasn't looking. Ginny pulled her bridesmaid dress from the closet and spread it out on her bed before speaking again. "Hermione, Harry and Ron, I mean. I guess Dumbledore left Harry something to do that will help destroy You-Know-Who."

"Yeah, Harry mentioned that last night. He was pretty vague about it."

"Yeah he won't tell anyone exactly what they're doing. It's a huge secret, apparently."

Where are they planning on going?" Scarlett asked.

Ginny shrugged as she knelt down and retrieved her shoes from the closet before standing up again. "How should I know? But Mum kept trying to prevent them from doing any planning. She'd give them chores separately and keep them busy. I don't think it worked, though."

Scarlett nodded as she crawled out of bed and made her way to the closet, where she reached for her own dress. It had actually been designed and made by Erica just for the occasion and was strapless, knee length, and a beautiful deep blue color that Erica had assured her would bring out her eyes…well the one eye that was blue anyway. A white sash was tied around the waist with a bow in the back.

If she was being honest with herself, she was actually glad Hermione was going with Harry. That way, Umbridge would assume she didn't come in for questioning because she was supporting and helping Harry, not because Scarlett had warned her. She still had to worry about what Umbridge would think about Justin's absence, if she would even think anything of it at all. She vaguely wondered how Justin and his family were doing. They must be hiding out at his aunt and uncle's house by now. She hoped they were doing okay.

A moment later, Erica arrived, fully dressed with her hair and makeup done. It was enough to distract Scarlett from her thoughts. Erica got right to work on doing everyone's hair. She had always been great at doing hair in addition to being a wonderful fashion designer. She was just a creative person in general, something Scarlett sometimes envied.

When Scarlett was finally dressed and her hair was done, she stared at herself in Ginny's mirror. Erica had been right about the color of the dress. Her eyes really did stand out. And as for her hair, it was curled and hung to just past her shoulders. Erica had even taken a few strands from the side of her face and pinned them in the back of her head with a glittering silver clip.

"You look stunning if I do say so myself," Erica said from where she was working on Hermione's hair.

Scarlett smiled and met Erica's eyes in the mirror. "You're just saying that because you did my hair and designed my dress."

"You designed her dress?" Fleur asked, spinning around and staring at Erica.

"Yeah," Erica nodded, fluffing Hermione's hair. "I've been designing clothes for a while, but I've had my own shop for a little over a year. I thought you knew that."

"I did, but I have never seen one of your designs een person before! Eet eez lovely. I should have had you design my wedding dress!"

Erica blushed. "The one you have is beautiful."

"Yes, that eez true," Fleur said as she retrieved her dress from the closet and began putting it on.

"You know," Ginny piped up, smoothing down the front of her bridesmaid dress, "I believe you did promise me discounts on your stuff. Why haven't I gotten said discounts?"

"Why haven't you visited the shop to buy anything?" Erica answered without looking up from Hermione's hair. "The only way I can actually give you a discount is if you come in and buy something."

"Fair enough," Ginny sighed.

"Wow, Fleur," Scarlett said, noticing that Fleur had gotten her dress on. "You look fantastic."

"You really do," Hermione agreed as Erica and Ginny nodded enthusiastically.

It was true. Scarlett hadn't thought it possible, but Fleur looked even more beautiful than before. She was practically glowing, but Scarlett got the feeling it had more to do with happiness than Fleur being part veela.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "It's me," called Mrs. Weasley. "Auntie Muriel and Fleur's mother are with me. We have the tiara I promised for Fleur."

Hermione, who was closest to the door pulled it open, allowing the three visitors to come in. As if on cue, they began gushing over how beautiful Fleur looked, causing Fleur to grin and actually blush a little bit.

Mrs. Weasley began arranging the tiara in Fleur's beautifully done hair while Fleur's mother spoke to her daughter in rapid French and Auntie Muriel circled Fleur like a vulture.

"Done," Mrs. Weasley said after a moment, stepping away and admiring her work.

"Yes, my tiara really completes the whole thing," Muriel said, nodding in satisfaction.

"It's beautiful," Hermione whispered.

"Yes, of course it is," Muriel answered. She peered over at Hermione. "What's your name?" she asked, almost a bit too bluntly.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione answered hesitantly.

"Ah, yes, the Muggleborn," Muriel said, giving Hermione a once over. "Hmm, bad posture and skinny ankles."

"Now, Muriel," Mrs. Weasley began, but Muriel wasn't listening. She had already started examining Ginny.

"Ginevra," she said as Ginny wrinkled her nose slightly at the use of her full name. "You are in dire need of a haircut. And what's that face for? It's as if someone just waved sour milk under your nose."

Scarlett saw Ginny catch her mother's eye and send her a look as Mrs. Weasley simply sighed and shrugged. Erica, Scarlett suddenly noticed, was inching towards the door.

"I'm going to go," she mouthed when she saw Scarlett watching. "Not in the mood to be evaluated by the old bat."

Scarlett shot her best friend a look, silently scolding her for being rude, but Auntie Muriel chose that moment to turn her attention to Scarlett.

"And who are you?" she asked.

"Uh, Scarlett Callaway," she said, glancing up at Erica, who snickered before slipping out of the room.

"Hold on a minute. Aren't you the girl who vomited all over my living room rug when you were younger?"

Ginny giggled and clapped a hand over her mouth as Scarlett sighed. "Yeah, unfortunately, that was me."

"The Floo made her sick, Muriel," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Obviously, but all over my rug, for heaven's sake! It's lucky we were able to get it out!"

"It wasn't a big deal," Mrs. Weasley sighed as Scarlett blushed.

"It was terribly unladylike, too."

"Vomiting is unladylike?" Ginny butted in. "It happens to everyone."

"Yes, but it's always more appropriate to hold it in until you are in a more suitable location. For instance, far away from expensive, white rugs."

"She couldn't help it," Ginny argued as Scarlett blushed even more.

"Should we head downstairs now?" Fleur asked before Muriel could answer and Scarlett was grateful for the change of topic.

"Yes, let's go," Mrs. Weasley said quickly. "Fleur's father and sister are in the living room, so Ginny and Fleur can stay there until we're ready to start. Scarlett and Hermione can head to the tent to find their seats."

Scarlett and Hermione nodded and quickly left the room. Scarlett was still trying to calm down and get her cheeks back to a normal color.

"Pleasant woman, isn't she?" Hermione asked, glancing over her shoulder as the two girls headed down the stairs.

"Oh absolutely," Scarlett snorted.

"Don't let her make you feel badly," Hermione said gently. "What happened wasn't your fault. You didn't mean to vomit all over her rug. You couldn't help it, like Ginny said. Obviously, Muriel's never been sick before in her life if she thinks it's easy to hold it in."

Scarlett let out a small giggle. "Thanks, Hermione."

There was a brief pause before Hermione spoke again as they entered the living room. "It was really nice of you to warn me about Umbridge. I never got to thank you for that."

"Oh, yeah, don't mention it," Scarlett replied, holding open the back door.

"I'm planning on sticking with Harry, but that may actually include us going into hiding, so once that happens, I'll have to stay hidden so Umbridge won't catch me."

Scarlett nodded as they began making their way across the yard to the tent. "Yeah, Ginny said you might be leaving." As they made their way up to the tent entrance, Scarlett could see Harry and Ron talking to Fred and George. Fred's back was to Scarlett and he kept tugging on the collar of his shirt, causing Scarlett to smile.

"Have you told him?" Hermione asked.

"Told who what? Scarlett asked, tearing her eyes away from Fred to look at Hermione.

"Have you told Fred that you warned Justin? I got the impression before that no one knew."

"Fred found out about a month ago. Justin came by to tell me he was taking my advice and Fred found out that way."

"Ah, I see," Hermione nodded.

They were finally close enough to the tent to hear what Fred was saying to the others, preventing Scarlett from responding to Hermione.

"You know, maybe a quick wedding is the way to go," Fred said, tugging on his collar again. "I'd actually prefer not to bother with any of this nonsense. No matter what we do, though, everyone should be able to wear what they want and Mum has to be in a full body-bind curse until it's all over."

"I'm all for it," Scarlett said with a grin, "but we might need to put a full body-bind curse on my mum, too."

Fred whirled around. "Hey," he said with a smile. "I didn't know you were standing there."

"I wasn't for very long," Scarlett shrugged, walking over and taking his hand. "Just long enough to hear your wonderful plans for our wedding."

"And you like them?" Fred asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Mm, judging from how I've seen your mum behaving recently, I think it might be best."

"She wasn't that bad this morning, though," George chimed in. "She cried a little about Percy not being here, but who needs him?" He shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Uh-oh," Fred suddenly said. He pointed over Scarlett's head with his free hand. "Here come the guests."

"Excellent, I think I see a couple of veela cousins," George grinned. "I'll look after them." He darted away, leaving Fred to deal with the middle age witches at the front of the group.

"I'll see you in a few minutes," Fred whispered in Scarlett's ear as he dropped her hand.

She nodded as he left her side and began leading the middle aged witches to their seats. Ron and Harry took the next two groups of people, leaving Scarlett and Hermione alone again.

"So, was Fred really upset when he found out what you did?" Hermione asked as they stood off to the side and watched the boys rush back and forth to lead guests inside the tent.

"At first, yeah, but I think he was more hurt that I broke my promise. We talked it out, though."

"Good. What does he have against Justin anyway?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Scarlett shrugged. He won't tell me and neither will George. I'm supposed to ask again in a few years." She sighed heavily. "It's annoying. I don't think he's planning on ever telling me, actually. It's annoying."

"I can imagine," Hermione agreed. She paused. "What's going to happen to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can imagine telling me and Justin before the news officially got out can't be safe."

Scarlett shrugged. "I'm hoping that Umbridge won't link it to me or my mother. Surely people will run when they hear the news and she has no way of knowing when you and Justin left and went on the run."

Hermione nodded. "For your sake, I hope she doesn't do anything crazy. I wouldn't put it past her."

Scarlett sighed. "That's basically what Fred said too."

"He cares about you, Scarlett. Quite a bit, I'd say. It's obvious." She let that sink in for a minute before looking up and letting out a small groan. "Oh, no, here comes Muriel again."

"I wonder who the lucky gentleman will be that has to lead her to her seat," Scarlett muttered with fake enthusiasm.

The lucky person turned out to be Ron, whose expression turned to one of annoyance as he saw Muriel at the tent entrance. Scarlett thought he looked as if he were considering turning around, but the old woman had already seen him.

"Ronald!" She said, latching onto his arm. "It is you, isn't it? Your hair is so very long. I almost mistook you for Ginevra!" She glanced up and frowned at something over Ron's shoulder. "And what is Xenophilius Lovegood wearing? He looks like an omelet. Anyway, Ronald, hurry and show me to my seat. I am a hundred and seven and can't be on my feet too long. My seat better be a good one, too, so I can see everything. I didn't come here to have a terrible view…."

Scarlett bit her lip and tried to hold back her laughter as Ron led Muriel into the tent, looking less than thrilled. She shook her head. "I can't believe what she said about your ankles and your posture, Hermione. It's completely untrue. Actually, most of what she says is untrue."

"I still can't believe she even remembered that you vomited on her rug," Hermione said. "I mean, it was years ago, and she is a hundred and seven."

The two girls giggled into their hands and it was almost hard to stop, no matter how hard they tried.

After a moment, Fred appeared beside them. "Talking about Muriel?" he asked, resting an elbow on Scarlett's shoulder. "She told George his ears were lopsided and she told me I needed a haircut."

"She's been telling everyone they need a haircut," Hermione sighed.

"Except me," Scarlett said, turning to look at Fred. "No, she told me off again for vomiting on her rug, what, eleven years ago? As if I didn't hear enough of it the first time!"

Fred laughed, but managed to contain himself when Scarlett shot him a look. "She remembers that, then?"

"Yes, she does, and it isn't funny!" Scarlett exclaimed. "Do you even understand how mortifying that was? It was a white rug. And expensive, as Muriel didn't fail to remind me upstairs."

Fred looked on the verge of laughter again. "You have to admit, Scar, it is funny. Not that you were sick, of course, but because of how upset Muriel is years later."

"It's not funny to me," Scarlett retaliated, swatting Fred's arm.

He caught her hand in his and kissed her fingers. "You look beautiful today. Have I mentioned that?"

"No," Scarlett said dryly, raising her eyebrows, "you haven't." She smirked over at Hermione. "Have you ever noticed how boys never seem to pick up on their cues?"

"Believe me, I have," Hermione said, rolling her eyes as Fred made a noise of protest.

"I told you that you looked beautiful! It's not like I forgot!"

"You told me just now in order to save yourself from being hit with more of my punches." Scarlett gently hit him in the shoulder again.

"You swatted me. You didn't punch me. Big difference. And it hardly even hurt!" Fred stuck out his tongue at her as Scarlett crossed her arms in annoyance and glared at him.

"Oh, please," she sighed, "I think you just—"

"What are you three still doing standing out here?" Mrs. Weasley's shrill voice carried over to them and they turned to see her marching over, flapping her hands frantically at them in an attempt to shoo them away. "Go find your seats; we'll be starting soon!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said quickly, hurrying into the tent at once.

"Body-bind curse, I'm telling you," Fred murmured into Scarlett's ear as they turned to follow Hermione.

Scarlett giggled. "Like I said, it may be for the best. But on the other hand, I think your mother rather enjoys this."

"Inside the tent! Go!" Mrs. Weasley ordered, shooing them away again.

"Or maybe not," Scarlett whispered. She smiled, shrugged and looked up at Fred. "So, Mr. Weasley, are you going to show me to my seat or are you going to miss your cue again?"

Fred held out his arm and grinned cheekily. "May I show you to your seat?"

Scarlett linked her arm through his. "Of course."

"Right this way, then." Fred led her into the tent and over to her seat, which was directly behind his own and in between her mother and Erica. When they came to a stop, Fred bowed dramatically and kissed Scarlett's hand again, causing her to smile and shake her head.

"Such a lovesick sap," Erica teased, causing Scarlett's mother to nudge her.

"Let's get this wedding started, shall we?" Scarlett said pleasantly, sitting down and smoothing out her dress.

"Yes, now that the princess and her Prince Charming have arrived, we can begin," Erica snorted.

"You bet," Fred said, turning around and winking.

"You, turn around," Scarlett said, leaning forward and shoving Fred's shoulder to get him to face front again. "And you be quiet," she added, looking at Erica.

"Yes, ma'am," Erica saluted.

Scarlett rolled her eyes and didn't respond. Between the two of them and their comments, she didn't know how she was going to make it unless the wedding started soon. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind when Bill and Charlie appeared at the front of the tent. Bill was nervously tugging at the ends of his sleeves and Scarlett had to smirk. She could remember from her childhood days spent with the Weasley's that she had always thought that as the oldest, Bill was fearless and never got nervous over anything. It was almost kind of comforting to see that he was nervous now. It was sweet, actually. He was obviously so in love with Fleur and now he was getting to marry her. Scarlett found herself half wishing that Fred loved her the way Bill loved Fleur. It would almost be nice to have Fred nervously waiting for her at the end of the aisle instead of simply standing there because he had to. It was one of the things she actually felt as if she was missing out on with the vow in place

Charlie, on the other hand, looked exactly the opposite of how Bill looked. He was grinning like an idiot, looking completely thrilled to be there and as if he didn't have a care in the world. He caught Scarlett's eye and pointed at her. "You next," he mouthed, grinning wider.

Scarlett smiled and gave a tiny shake of her head. "Stop it," she mouthed back.

Before Charlie could respond, the music began and Ginny and Gabrielle started making their way up the aisle, one after the other. Both girls looked absolutely stunning. Muriel had her comments of course, but Scarlett tuned her out and she imagined the other guests were doing the same.

Once Ginny and Gabrielle had reached the front of the tent, the music continued for a moment longer before it stopped briefly and a different tune started up, which only meant one thing. Any second, Fleur was going to be walking down the aisle.