Beauxbatons [Charlie Weasley]

Married

"Relax, it's all going to be fine."

"How do you know? You have not been married before!"

Isabelle's freaking out, standing in front of her mirror in her wedding dress, completely ignoring Elena as her maid of honour tries to get her to calm down.

"No, but I have," Maisie says, stepping over to Isabelle and grinning as she wraps an arm around the French girl's shoulders. "So trust me when I say that even though it's really nerve-wracking at first, it all works out, and you are going to be happier than you've ever been once tonight's over."

Isabelle's silent for a while. "I want to trust you," she finally says, her eyes continuing to dart back to her appearance in the mirror.

"Then do," Maisie laughs. "Simple as that. Now, come on, the ceremony's started, and we've got to head out in a moment."

They head down the stairs, into the massive entrance hall of Jacques and Josephine's mansion, where the wedding's being held. The two of them practically insisted she have it at their house, and Isabelle didn't hesitate to accept the generous offer. After all, their place is practically a palace, a perfect wedding venue, and it's also the place Isabelle grew up in for most of her life.

Jacques is waiting near the back door, and Isabelle swears she sees a tear in his eye as he looks at her.

"Tu es belle, ma fille," he says, and Isabelle almost bursts into tears herself. You are beautiful, my daughter.

"Merci, papa," Isabelle says, holding onto his arm for support, willing herself not to cry just yet, when she hasn't even made an appearance in the ceremony.

"It's time," Maisie says, grinning, and she walks out the door with Noah on her arm, the first bridesmaid and groomsman to walk down the aisle, to where Charlie's standing up the front.

Isabelle can't really see him from inside the house, but that's a good thing, she thinks, because otherwise she'll freak out even more than she already is.

Ava and Ollie are the next ones to walk out, the red-headed girl grinning at Isabelle before they walk down the aisle. And yes, Isabelle chose to have Ava as one of her bridesmaids, because, even though the girl was awful to Isabelle in the beginning, they came to be friends and to trust each other, and despite herself, Isabelle missed the girl quite a lot after she left the Ministry.

When those two are at the front of the seated crowd, Elena and Daniel start walking down the aisle, the maid of honour and the best man, Elena squeezing Isabelle's hand excitedly before they leave the house.

Isabelle swallows thickly. Oh, Merlin, it's time. She doesn't think she can do this.

As if reading her mind, Jacques turns to her and places a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "Il n'y a pas besoin de s'inquiéter," he says softly, before looping her arm in his and beginning to lead her over to the doors. There's no need to worry.

And, taking the deepest breath in that she's ever taken before in her life, Isabelle allows Jacques to lead her out of the mansion and through the backyard, down the aisle, towards where Charlie stands, waiting for her.

The way he reacts when he turns around and sees his soon-to-be wife is the last thing Isabelle expected. He immediately covers his face with a hand, his shoulders shaking slightly as he cries. And that's when Isabelle finds herself smiling, that's when she feels all the worry and fear in her chest vanish completely.

Because Charlie's there, Charlie's in front of her, he loves her and she loves him, and she's going to marry him today, and that's the one thing she wants more than anything else in the world.

"You're beautiful," Charlie whispers as she reaches him and Jacques leaves to find his seat, the red-haired man wiping his eyes and grabbing Isabelle's hands in his.

"As are you," Isabelle grins, and the crowd chuckles.

Isabelle can't take her eyes off the man in front of her, grinning like a silly school girl as she takes in all his features, as if this is the first time she's ever seen him.

His amber eyes still sparkle with the recently shed tears, making them glint and shimmer in the sun as they look at her so lovingly, her heart seems to expand tenfold. His tanned skin looks gold in the light, and his red hair is bright as if on fire. His whole appearance seems to be so much happier, so much brighter and lighter than usual, and he looks better and more handsome than Isabelle's ever seen him before.

"When we first met," Charlie begins on his vows, "I'll admit I thought you nothing more than a pretty face. I thought you wouldn't be interested in the little things in life, like climbing trees or going on walks through the Forbidden Forest, let alone dragons! And yet, here we are."

He grins and the crowd laughs.

"I was wrong about each and every one of those things, of course, and I can honestly say that I've never been more happy to be wrong before in my life. I can't wait to have a life with you, Isabelle, I can't wait to spend each and every day by your side, learning something new about you all the time. I hope you continue to prove me wrong, and I hope that I might be able to prove you wrong, sometimes, too. I love you, Isabelle, and I always will."

Isabelle can't help but beam, once again feeling the tears threatening to fall.

"I am also going to talk about when we first met," Isabelle says, earning herself some more chuckles from the crowd. "I remember, back at Hogwarts, every single time I tried to speak to you, you would brush me off — you would brush everyone off, for that matter. But one day, you let me in. I do not know what changed on that day, I do not know what made you decide to entertain my silly, continuous questions, but I am so happy that you did. Because, quite frankly, I would not have stopped until you did, so you probably saved yourself quite a bit of trouble by letting me in as fast as you did."

More laughter from the audience, and Charlie can't help but grin and shake his head.

"Every single moment I have spent with you has been an adventure. We have been across the world and back together, Charlie, and I have loved every second of it, and I am beyond happy that our adventures will continue, that we will go through life together, no matter what that entails. I love you, Charlie, more than anything."

Applause breaks out amongst the crowd as both Isabelle and Charlie finish their vows, squeezing each other's hands tightly. Isabelle finds she doesn't want to let go, she doesn't want to tear her eyes away from Charlie's. Every single word she spoke to him was true, and she knows that every single word he said was true, too. Her heart feels light, and her eyes also brighten when the rings are brought out.

Charlie slips hers on her finger, and she does the same with his, never letting go of his calloused hands afterwards, still not wanting to.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the wedding official says, smiling, and before Isabelle even has the chance to process his words, Charlie's stepped forwards and pulled Isabelle into his arms, kissing her firmly.

She grins into the kiss as the crowd whoops and cheers, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him back, hard. They're married. Holy Hufflepuff, they're married. She's married to Charlie, and Maisie was right all along — she's already happier than she's ever felt before.

Positively beaming and hand in hand, Isabelle and Charlie run back down the aisle, laughing the whole way down. But just before Isabelle goes back inside the mansion with her new husband, she grins, throwing her bouquet over her shoulder, high into the air.

There's a whoop from behind her and Isabelle turns around to peek at who caught it. Elena's standing there, looking giddy, the bouquet of flowers held firmly in her hands. Daniel stands beside the dark-haired girl, blushing ever so slightly.

Isabelle barks a laugh, then squeezes Charlie's hand and they head inside together, throwing themselves in each other's arms and getting a few more kisses in before the after party starts.