74 | Wedding Fun
Bill and Fleur returned last, and the news that Alastor Moody was killed shocked everyone. No one wanted to make sure that this tough and brave man, fearful and dangerous, was gone.
One day after Harry's seventeenth birthday was Bill and Fleur's wedding day. A huge tent was laid out in the yard of the Burrow; the chairs and the altar were arranged there, where they were going to be married. In recent days there was a lot of preparation for the wedding, the house was overcrowded. Noelle Black and Noen arrived in the morning of the wedding, wearing two dresses and one suit, wrapped very carefully in special nylon.
Marley Mаcmillan was had just put on her bright red dress. She didn't look as innocent now as on the day of the Yule Ball that long ago. Now Marley looked powerful, confident, beautiful. Her dress was strewn with red flowers and (since she had a weakness for tulle), quite a lot of tulle. The dress was again short, reaching shortly after the middle of her thighs. It had a rather long V-shaped neck. Her hair was curled up with curls and her lips had a pink shiny gloss.
Marley was struggling hard with the zipper of her dress, which she couldn't twist at such an angle that it would fasten. She nearly fell several times because of the high heels she was wearing. She despaired and looked at the whole mess in the room she shared with Ginny and the bride Fleur. It would be impossible to find her wand. She bent slightly and the dress slid slightly down, stripping her back even more. She cursed angrily, turning the covers, looking for her wand. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, Marley just muttered something like an answer and didn't even see who stepped inside.
"I was going to say the guests are arriving--" George murmured stiffly, his tongue tangled. He was already wearing his suit, except his coat. But he had never been a fan of the coats since. Marley just puffed, stood up, and prematurely fixed the straps on her dress.
"Are you going to fasten my zipper?" Marley asked, her bare back to him. George could barely say a thing and simply pushed her hair forward carefully, fastening the zipper of her dress. Now Marley was feeling much better with a tight dress. "The room is such a mess. I lost my wand. I don't know where it is, and we don't have time. We have to get down--"
"Аccio wand!" said George, waving his wand. And Marley's wand appeared in her hand, after she had left her hiding place under the bed, where there were piles of old clothes. "Then we boys were messed up."
Marley laughed. "How do I look? Mom had picked this dress for me without even allowing me to see it before today--"
"If you have looked in the mirror," George was grinning, "you would know that you look beautiful. Really. I swallowed my tongue when I saw you."
"Thank you." Marley licked her lips. "Okay, now let's go down. Fleur will be in this room in a minute. They have to fix some thing on her dress."
They quickly left the room and went down the stairs. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen wearing a beautiful amethyst dress. When she saw Marley, she gasped. Then they headed for the tent. Marley walked inside and almost immediately noticed her mother, godmother and Noen. They were sitting in the third row and chatting lively.
"Hey." Marley said, sitting next to Noen who was wearing a formal black suit. Beside him was Noelle. She was wearing a black dress to the knees, with mesh sleeves that had asterisks, and the skirt of the dress was all in tulle. Her hair was half pulled up and curled. Next to her, Brielle's hair was in a lovely bun that looked both casual and formal. Her dress was blue and with very little tulle, just where she was going down long. It looked like a short cloak behind her.
"Oh my god, Marley!" exclaimed Noelle, without believing her eyes. Then she looked at Brielle. "Brie, I didn't know you chose such a stunning dress for our Marley. Oh, honey, you're so beautiful. Now tell me, what did you lucky boy thought when he saw you?"and she grinned playfully.
"He swallowed his tongue," laughed Marley. "But you too godmom, and you mom, you're so beautiful. And the dresses--woaah!"
Brielle was smirking at her daughter, "Macmillan and Black are always beautiful. Don't forget it, honey. We dominate."
"By the way, Angelina is here," added Noen with a smile. "But the ceremony is starting any moment and you better see her afterwards--"
Marley just nodded with her head. But Noen was right. The ceremony began. Bill was waiting for Fleur, and she appeared with her father, Mr. Delacour. Harry (transformed into а red-haired Muggle Barney), Ron and Hermione were in front of them, with Fred and George in the front row. There were several beautiful cousins-veelas on the side of Fleur's side. They giggled often and looked at the twins, who were always joking and laughing.
At the end of the ceremony, the tent became a dance floor, with seating tables. Waiters walked all over the tent, serving drinks and sandwiches. And then Marley's eyes crossed with Angelina's. Her dark-skinned friend was wearing a purple dress and it was stunning. The two girls screamed and ran, hugging each other. Marley stopped the flow of tears in her eyes, but her smile was contagious.
"Oh my God, Lina!" Marley exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm seeing you again. I missed you so much. How are things with you?"
"Amazing," she replied. "What about you? I heard about Harry's moving from Privet Drive. It sucks Moody died. He was a really scary but good Auror. Fred told me about it when he sent me the invite to the wedding. Speaking of Fred, where are these redheads?"
"No idea," Marley muttured and looked around. Fred and George were nowhere to be seen, but there were too many people here and it wasn't easy to find the exact person you're looking for. But they were very tall, with bright red hairs... it shouldn't be difficult.
"Ladies!" said the familiar voice of Fred Weasley and the ginger twins popped up to the girls. Marley jumped on her place, took her wand and was ready to hex Fred because he scared the rat out of her. But Fred was grinning and wrapped his hand on Angelina's shoulders. "Chill, girl! We didn't want to scare you."
"Maybe a little bit--" admitted George. Marley put her wand back in her pocket. "So, you found Lina. How are you, by the way? I still can't believe my brother married a quarter veela."
"The cousins are beautiful--" said Fred, but Marley and Lina looked at him with deadly looks. "Of course, not as much as you two. You're the most beautiful girls on the wedding."
"Fred, aren't you tired of these girl whims?" asked George. "If you just say that another girl looks good too, they instantly look like wolves ready to tear you apart."
"If you want, you cas be a volunteer." smirked Marley. "I would be glad to tear apart every single girl on this planet. And then you."
"Wait, wait—wait— am I becoming deaf or you are jealous?" suddenly asked George, a smirk touching his face. There was a geam in his brown eyes. Marley simply shrugged.
"You are becoming deaf. I mean, you have one ear, Georgie."
George chewed the inside of his cheek and his cheekbones stood out on his white face. While Marley was watching at him, she hadn't realised how handsome George actually was. Even with one ear.
"Hey, wanna get out of here?" Fred wrinkled nose, his eyes stuck on Ron, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley dancing on the dance floor. "I don't think my eyes can't stand to look at them anymore." Marley looked through the tent opening. It was getting dark outside. "Girls, do you want to have some fun?"
"We can offer you the greatest amenities," added George. "and you will be very pleased in the end."
Marley and Lina just exchanged a smirk.
***
It was already quite dark outside. The night was warm and pleasant, star-studded. Music was heard from the tent, and the party went on with full force. Everyone had a lot of fun, especially Marley. Charlie, Hagrid, and a squat wizard in a purple porkpie hat were singing "Odo the Hero" in a corner.
It had been a long time since Marley had so suddenly left the party with George. On top of that, they returned about an hour and a half later, and Marley's hair was a little tattered, but she couldn't make it look better than now. By the way, George's hair was sticking out on all sides, but he wasn't paying much attention to it.
"Told you it was fun," he said while they were coming back to the tent. "I hope Angelina and Fred will come soon. Is there something on my face? I feel a little sticky."
"Yes, my lipgloss." Marley replied, making another attempt to fix her hair. They were walking toward the tent and the light coming from the inside.
"Well, I'm leaving it like it is," he shrugged shoulders and a slight smile touched his lips. The pair of them entered the tent. The people, who were sitting on the tables nearest the entrance, looked around to see them but no one was really paying attention on the couple.
"I have to find Harry," Marley said. "Why don't you look for Fred or Lee and I'll be back in a minute."
"Sure thing," he said, kissing her quickly on the lips and left her. Marley lookd around, looking for the red-haired Muggle Barney. She saw him talking with Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker in his county's National Quidditch Team. The Bulgarian was just leaving and Marley approached Harry and greeted her brother.
"What's that on your neck?" frowned Harry. Marley's eyes widened and Harry just tapped his neck, trying to guide her where this "thing" was. "Don't worry, it's not big. But it's red. Not much, but it's red. What happened to you, anyway?"
"Who," corrected him Marley, rolling her eyes. "George. That's what happened to me."
"I supposed this would happen," he said. "I saw you two leaving the tent at dusk. But if you want to know, you didn't miss anything. Just how Ron was dancing waltz alone, but then thankfully, Hermione finally inclined to dance with him."
"Are they dating?" asked Marley.
"Sort of," said Harry.
Fleur climbed the small stage in the middle, holding the bouquet she had come with to the altar. "All unmarried ladies in order! It's time to throw the bouquet!" she said, and all the girls did it, except Marley. She didn't even moved out of her seat and continued to talk to Harry. Shortly before Fleur threw the bouquet, the girl saw Elphias Doge, grabbed her brother's wrist and led him to the man, in whose yard she had fallen a week ago. She knew Harry had always been close to Dumbledore, as had Elphias. So now they would be able to talk about the ex-Headmaster of Hogwarts.
The three were just greeting when Marley heard the girls' screams and their raised hands, trying to catch the bouquet. The girl turned and saw the bouquet flying straight to Elphias. It would smack him in the head. Her Chaser instincts were too overstrung and she just caught it fast.
For a moment everyone fell silent, and the next moment they looked at Marley and burst into applause and screams of joy. Marley measured Angelina into the crowd that grinned at her. Except for the fact that her hair had become loose too, she couldn't see the clear marks Fred had made. But unlike him, George always did.
"It seems, Marley, a big surprise is waiting for you!" joked Fleur, laughing. The attenion around Marley continued a few more minutes then she was finally able to escape it. She found George, talking to his twin brother and Charlie, sitting on one of the tables, right from the dance floor. The girl left the bouquet on the table.
"Hey, Marley." greeted Charlie with a smile. Marley answered to his smile.
"Nice hickey," added Fred with a grin on his face. George narrowed his eyes and looked down at the red skin of Marley's neck.
"I didn't notice that," he said. "It looks good on you."
Charlie just tried to hide his laughter and with a quick excuse, he left the Trio alone. Marley exhaled and touched the red spot on her neck. It hurt. Not much, but with pressure she felt dull pain. In the light of the lamps, the marks of Marley's gloss were clearly visible on George's face, while Fred's marks of lipstick were red and bright against his white skin.
"You two look good," Marley stated, taking a sandwich from one of the waiters. "I can't wait to watch Molly scold you for what a lax look you have at Bill's wedding."
George was rolling his eyes, "Said the girl with the red hickey. Anyway, we told you and Lina would be pleased at the end."
"It happened, so shut the fuck up." added Fred with oily smile. Marley rolled eyes.
At that moment, something large and silver came falling through the canopy over the dance floor. Graceful and gleaming, the lynx landed lightly in the middle of the astonished dancers. Heads turned, as those nearest it froze absurdly in mid-dance. Then the Patronus's mouth opened wide and it spoke in the loud, deep, slow voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."