Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived (Collected Original Works)

Wedding Among Dragons Part 4 (Charlie and Cordi)

The atmosphere at the back of the Knight Bus was tense. The bus was normally full of comfortable beds this time of night. Tonight, however, it held an unusually high number of stiff wingback chairs. There were only two passengers, who were engaged in a loudly whispered debate. Ernie had met the wizard before, but the witch, who was striking even now when she was upset, was unfamiliar to him.

While they thought they had some semblance of privacy sitting in the last two seats of the cluttered bus, their reflections were crystal clear in Ernie’s thick glasses. He was paying more attention to the good natured, yet serious, discussion that was taking place. Even though the bus was enchanted, Ernie was still required to attempt to miss large objects such as utility poles and buildings. The bus jumped sharply as he swerved to avoid missing a Muggle hospital as they sped through the last town before Ottery St. Catchpole. Ernie glanced in his rearview mirror, prepared to apologize for the sudden movement. The couple was still deep in discussion, as if they had not noticed the jarring jolt.

Charlie and Cordilia, in the midst of a heated discussion, had no idea that Ernie was following every word that left their mouths. So intent on coming to a reasonable compromise, they didn’t even notice that the Knight Bus had nearly collided with a Muggle hospital, a Wizard’s Cemetery and a Muggle Police Precinct.

“What about Bill?” Cordi demanded. “How do you think this will make him feel?”

“Honestly,” Charlie replied. “I don’t know. I’d like to think that the happiness of our wedding would overwhelm any feelings of sadness that may continue to linger in his mind. Fleur might be dead, but she’s not gone from our memories. She will always be in our hearts.” Charlie paused for a moment, bringing her petite hand to his lips and brushing his lips across the back of her hand tenderly. “She was a part of our family. You will be too.”

“You don’t know that,” Cordi argued unsuccessfully.

“Yes my love, I do. I know it with absolute certainty,” Charlie explained.

“What if they don’t like me?” Cordi asked, her voice bordering on a whimper.

“Why wouldn’t they like you?” Charlie asked gently.

“Look at me,” Cordi spat disgustedly. “I’m not anything a proper wife should be. I run around chasing Dragons for a living. I don’t like wearing robes and I flat out refuse to wear a dress.” Cordi paused, her eyes filling with horror as her thoughts moved to another problem. “What if your mum and dad won’t allow us to marry? What if they think that I am not good enough for you?”

“That’s absurd,” Charlie laughed. “Do you not remember meeting them?”

“Of course I remember,” Cordi sighed, exasperation evident in her tone.

“Did my mum throw a soapy frying pan at you?” Charlie asked, trying to hide his amusement at the situation.

“No,” Cordi grumbled. “You know she didn’t. She was perfectly nice. Although, there were several times when it looked like she might be considering throwing the frying pan at Fred or George.”

“Did my dad show you his entire plug collection?” Charlie asked, his eyes twinkling.

“He showed me each one of the eighty seven plugs he has in his collection,” Cordi admitted, starting to chuckle at the memory of all those plugs with the wires still hanging out the back.

“Did Ginny, Fred, or George try to hex you?” Charlie asked, laughing heartily at the disgusted look on Cordi’s face.

“You know perfectly well that Fred and George tried to dye me blue. And when they couldn’t get my skin to turn blue, they died my hair green. Ginny.” Cordi snorted loudly. “That day outside the garden shed, she nearly hexed me, both of us really; when she thought we were…wait a sec. You were the one who said that Hermione wasn’t family. You were just lucky that Ron stepped up to defend her honor. All that happened was that we were thrown to the ground. I have a feeling that it would have been exponentially worse had it been Ginny on the other end of that wand.”