After the shock of Dumbledore's death I was happy to receive an invitation to Bill and Fleur's wedding. Charlie and I were granted leave for a few days, Kim and Tilly to pair up in our absence.
The plane ride over I'm tense and emotional. Despite frequent letters, I can't believe George is okay until I see him. However, when we arrive in London, no one is there to meet us. I look at Charlie to see if this concerns him.
"Maybe they forgot," he says in a false-cheery tone, "come on, we can apparate."
We apparate to a field some distance from the Burrow and walk down towards the house.
"It feels like years since I've been back here," Charlie says, smiling as the house comes into view, "I guess it has been."
We walk through a protective layer around the house, causing me to shudder. Mr Weasley comes out of the house to meet us, his wand out.
"We have to check you're identities," he says, "Charlie, what was the last thing I said to you."
"'Write more, your mother misses you'," Charlie says. Mr Weasley embraces his son, then turns to me, seemingly unsure what to ask me. Luckily, Fred comes out behind him.
"Ari," he says quietly, "I-"
"Fred, we need to make sure it's her first," Mr Wealsey says sharply. Fred swallows and nods.
"I can never think what to ask," he says, "show me your patronus."
I cast my patronus and the weird creature dances around Fred before disappearing.
"It's her, dad," Fred says. Mr Weasley nods.
"Where's George?" I ask. Mr Weasley and Fred look at each other.
"Oh my god, Fred, what happened?" I demand.
"He's fine," Fred says quickly, "most of him..."
I shove past Fred and sprint inside. I can't remember where the twins' bedroom is and panic for a moment, then sprint upstairs.
"GEORGE! GEORGE!"
"Aurelia!"
George appears from a room and I stop, shocked at the site of half of his head covered in bandages.
"Oh my god," I say, "oh my god."
"Ari, I'm fine," he says, taking my arm, "breathe. Breathe."
I sink slowly down onto the stairs, staring at him.
"Wh-wh-what-?"
"It's a long story," he says, "come downstairs."
He helps me up and we walk down to the living room. George explains about the rescue of Harry, about Snape, the curse. Losing his ear.
"It'll be fine, in time," he says, "it's still bleeding, so I can't take the bandages off."
"Can I see?" I ask. George looks at me uncertainly.
"Please?"
"Alright," he sighs. He reaches up and loosens the bandages, unwrapping them, then peels away the dressing. I feel my stomach drop at the sight of the hole in the side of his head. The wound is still bleeding, not a lot, but enough for concern.
"I can stop the bleeding," I tell him.
"How?"
I glance into the kitchen where the other Weasleys are.
"Not here," I say, "upstairs."
He leads me up to his bedroom and I hesitate for a second.
"This is going to be weird," I say, "for both of us."
"What are you going to- DID YOU LICK ME?!"
"Healing spit, remember?" I point out, running my tongue along the wound again.
"You're drinking my blood," he says, "Aurelia, that's weird."
"I'm not drinking it," I roll my eyes, "plus, it's not bleeding any more. It looks much better, look!"
"Wow," he says, looking at the wound which now looks completely healed, "you can't pull an ear out of your fangs, can you?"
"Nah, that would be a bit ear-y don't you think?" I ask, then laugh, "geddit? Ear-y! Eerie!"
"You and Fred are going to be the deaf of me," George responds, laughing, "now, get over here and give me a snog."
***
The day of the wedding I wake up in between Ginny and Hermione, and stretch. Charlie and I will return to Romania tomorrow, and as much as I love it there, I'm going to miss George. We haven't had a chance to spend any quality time together as there's been so much wedding preparation to help with.
I climb out of bed, trying not to wake the others, and slip upstairs to Fred and George's room. I sit on the side of George's bed and shake him gently.
"What?" he grumbles.
"Come for a walk with me," I whisper, brushing his hair off his face. He groans, but nods and starts getting out of bed. I slip out of the room and tip-toe downstairs. This is the first time I've been up before Mrs Weasley, and the house is strangely still and quiet. I step outside into the surprisingly warm morning air and breathe in deeply. I hear the door open behind me and George's arm snakes around my waist.
"Come on," I say, moving across the lawn. The grass is soft under my feet, the ground still damp from the morning dew. I climb over the fence and walk out into the field. We walk in silence for a little while, then George stops me.
"The protective boundary ends here," he says. I nod and look up at him. His hair has a golden glow in the early sun. I brush my fingers through it, my palm grazing over where his ear used to be. George moves his head away from my touch, looking pained.
"What?" I ask.
"It looks awful," he sighs, turning his head away.
"Girls love boys with scars," I say, wrapping my arms around him and leaning my head on his chest.
"Not like this."
"Exactly like this."
"Aurelia, don't."
"Don't what?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Don't pretend it's not hideous," he says.
"I don't have to pretend," I say, "George, my most loved George, if you can accept me for the night dwelling, blood drinking creature of darkness that I am, I can accept the fact that you only have one ear."
There's a small smile playing around his lips, but he still looks uncertain.
"If it makes you feel better, I can keep my fangs out all the time," I say, extending them, "then people will be much more afraid of me."
George laughs and hugs me.
"You're beautiful, fangs and all," he says.
"And you're handsome, ear and all."
We stand out in the field, holding each other tightly until we hear movement back at the house and George sighs.
"We should go and help," he says. I take his hand and we walk back up to the house.
We step into the kitchen and are immediately caught up in a whirl of action. Mrs Weasley hands us a piece of toast, a tin of sugar and a wooden spoon for 'breakfast' while dragging a bucket of water around. George laughs and hands me the sugar, going to help his mother. I take a bite of toast and realise it's cardboard. I go into the kitchen and find Ginny there.
"Did she give you cardboard too?" she asks when she see me. I nod and she grimaces.
"Here," she says, "certified toast, I promise."
"Thanks," I laugh, "how much more is there to do?"
"Not much," Ginny says, "I think Mum's just nervous and excited, she's taking it out on the rugs, look."
We look out the window to wear Mrs Weasley is viciously beating a rug with a broom.
"Fred is probably glad it's a rug, not him," Ginny comments absentmindedly. We watch her for a moment more, then Mr Weasley comes into the kitchen.
"Oh, you two," he says, "have you see... Fred? Or was it George? Have you seen either of them?"
"George was in the living room a minute ago," I say, "I haven't seen Fred this morning."
"In bed," Ginny says, "he hasn't dared leave the room yet."
"Right, thanks," Mr Weasley says, disappearing.
A few minutes later Fred, Charlie, Mr Weasley and George file out through the kitchen. We watch them go out into the field and start putting up the marquee.
"Weddings are nice, aren't they?" I comment. Ginny makes a face.
"It'll be your turn soon enough," I tease her. She laughs.
"It'll be your turn sooner," she teases back, "going to go for the bouquet?"
"Absolutely not!" I laugh, "and don't you go giving George ideas!"
"Ideas on what?" George asks, coming into the kitchen from outside.
"Nothing!" I say, quickly clamping my hand over Ginny's mouth. She bites my hand and I squeal, laughing. George grins at us.
"You two!" Mrs Weasley says, pushing past George, "can you find Hermione? You'll need to start getting ready!"
"Sure thing," I say, tugging Ginny's arm. We escape upstairs and find Hermione in Ron's room.
"We're going to hide in Ginny's room," I tell her, "Mrs Weasley will be up here soon for the boys, I suggest you come now, if you want to live."
The three of us hide out in Ginny's room, listening to the ruckus outside.
"Fleur is here to do your hair, Ginny," Fred says, sticking his head out, "one hour until the ceremony starts!"
Ginny groans and follows her brother out. I look over at Hermione.
"I guess it's just the two of us," I say, "are you any good at doing hair?"
In the next half hour we manage to make ourselves presentable and I get into my new blue dress robes. I walk downstairs with Hermione as the boys are already over at the marquee, helping people find their seats.
"You look stunning," George says as we approach him. I wink at him and follow his directions down the aisle to our seats, just behind the family. The marquee fills quickly and Bill and Charlie arrive and stand up the front. Fred and George are the last to come in, then Fleur walks down on her father's arm.
"Wow," I breathe. She looks breath taking.
The ceremony is short, but sweet, bringing tears to most eyes. After, all the chairs are cleared to the sides to make room for dancing. George finds me in the crowd and offers me his hand.
"I thought you'd never ask," I say, taking it. He twirls me into his arms and we dance until my head is spinning.
"You know, we could sneak off for a bit," he whispers in my ear, "they'd never notice."
"Okay," I giggle.
We slip out of the marquee and stroll casually around the side until there's no one there and then we run off, giggling like school children.
"Oh, ow! George, stop!" I pull off one of my shoes. The heel is hanging off by a thread. I pull the other one off and drop them both on the ground. George scoops me into his arms and kisses me hard. He puts me down again and we walk up a small hill that looks out over the field, the marquee and the house.
"Wasn't that a beautiful ceremony?" I sigh happily, leaning against him.
"It was," George agrees, "is that the kind of wedding you'd want?"
"Mm, I don't know," I say dreamily, "I always pictured my wedding day out in the open, under a big tree, with blossoms in the air..."
"Your wedding day?" George asks, "or... Our wedding day?"
I look up at him, surprised, my cheeks feeling hot.
"Uhh..."
"I can imagine it," he says, "you in white, carrying red roses, walking up to me."
I'm frozen to the spot. George is never this sentimental. He looks down at me and even in the dark, I can see his eyes are burning.
"Aurelia," he says, taking my hand, "will-"
He's cut off by screams erupting from the marquee.
"What-"
We're both on our feet, sprinting towards the marquee, we can see shadows moving inside, hear the sound of people disapparating.
As we approach, Charlie bursts out and sees us.
"RUN!" he yells, waving us off, "RU-"
A red light hits him and he falls to the ground, stunned.
"Oh my god," George says, freezing as the marquee is blown apart, revealing the scene. The Weasleys and others who remained, surrounded by Death Eaters. I grab George's arm and tug him backwards into some bushes.
"We have to help them," he says, staring straight at Fred.
"I don't have my wand," I breathe, "it's still in the house."
"I'll go then," he says, going to stand up, but I yank him back down.
"Give me your wand," I say, holding my hand out for it, "I'll go."
"Ari, no-"
"I'm not affected by magic like you are!" I hiss, "the stunning spells won't hurt me!"
"But-"
I shush him, looking at the Death Eaters.
"Give it here," I say, holding my hand out for his wand, "I have an idea."
He hands his wand over reluctantly and I take a deep breath, thankful for the first time that my father has an obsession with the dark arts and wasn't careful about hiding books from young, curious eyes.
"Morsmorde," I breathe, hoping it will work. Luck is entirely on our side and the green vapour shoots into the sky, winding into the Dark Mark. The effect on the Death Eaters is immediate.
"Who did that?"
"Not me!"
"Who cast it?!"
"WHO WAS IT?!"
"Maybe he's calling us back!"
"Yes, the Dark Lord!"
They disapparate quickly and George and I sprint down towards the Weasleys. I stop when I reach Charlie, but George goes on to his family.
"Rennervate," I breathe. Charlie's eyes flicker open and he looks dazed for a moment, then sits up quickly.
"What-"
"Charlie!" Mrs Weasley pulls him into a hug, "oh, Charlie!"
"What happened?" Charlie asks, looking around in confusion.
"Aurelia cast the Dark Mark," George says, helping me to my feet and taking back his wand, "it scared them off."
"How the hell can you cast that?" Charlie asks, pushing Mrs Weasley away and getting to his feet.
"I read it in a book," I say lamely.
"I thought you had to have the mark to cast it," Ginny says. I roll up my sleeves and present my forearms.
"Well, it worked," Mr Weasley says, "and a good thing too. Right, let's get some protective spells up, come on you lot."