Disclaimer * See chapter one.

"'Open to me, my darling, my treasure, my lovely dove,' he said, ' for I have been out in the night. My head is soaked with dew, my hair with the wetness of the night.'" (Song of Songs 5:2b)

      The day of Bill's "funeral" (as the twins put it) dawned bright and early.  Fleur was out of her mind with nerves, and Gabrielle was understandably frazzled trying to get herself fixed up according to her standards on top of helping Fleur get ready.  Hermione actually helped Ginny with her dress (which was impossible to get on alone due to extensive lacing in the back) and helped set her hair about her head with the flower wreath set atop, her hair cascading down her back.  A few glamour charms later (there was no way make-up was going to last in the heat) and Ginny felt quite ready.  Mum, of course, was another story, but they did manage to get her to the ceremony on time.

      Ginny was giving herself one more look in the mirror.  It was almost time for the processional to begin.  She had to admit that she rather liked the way this dress made her look, even if it was impossible to breathe in.  She felt like a real girl for a change, beautiful and even a bit attractive, and couldn't wait to see the expression on Harry's face when he finally saw her.  Of course, he probably would be too busy looking at Gabrielle, so what was the point in caring?  She tried to take a few deep breaths to steady herself, then led the way towards the paddock.  They left the house right on schedule.

      Five minutes later Fleur's train had been laid out just so, the tiara placed on her head perfectly, and the bouquets had been distributed.  Mr. Delacour, a very normal looking wizard, looked entranced by both of his daughters.  Ginny was busy just trying to breathe.  Perhaps she should have insisted that Hermione loosen her laces...

      Suddenly the music started, sending Fleur into another tizzy.  Ginny rolled her eyes, smoothed her skirt, and held her head high as she began the march.  All eyes were on her, which caused a curiously heady feeling.  She smiled at Bill, who was already waiting with Charlie and looking extremely calm and happy.  Percy hadn't responded to his invitation, and so his place next to Charlie remained depressingly empty.

      About halfway down the aisle Ginny's gaze fell on Harry, who was seated behind her Mum, and what she saw really took her breath away.  Harry's eyes were on her.  He had a shocked expression on his face, a heightened version of the look he used to get whenever she did an incredibly difficult move at Quidditch practice or wore her hair in a different way.  She almost tripped, trying to watch him but not let him know she was watching him.  She sped up slightly when she passed him, turned as quickly as she dared (Fleur had been more than a little put out by her performance at the rehearsal, at which she had ended up hopping about as if she was playing hopscotch.  It wasn't her fault that the twins had set up an obstacle course and it was her who had been forced to go first, all the while dodging explosions of bubbles, doves, rice, glitter, birdseed, shooting stars, etc. etc., that Fred and George had waiting for her.  At least Bill had been amused), and tried to watch Harry and the ceremony at the same time.

      Harry's eyes didn't leave her when Gabrielle was walking down the aisle (except when she blocked his view, taking as much time as possible to make the last five steps).  He didn't watch the fairies roll out the beautiful white runner or the four-year-old flower girl (a distant cousin somehow related to Aunt Muriel) scatter the rose petals just so.  He didn't even look at Fleur when everyone stood for the bride.

      Ginny tried to pay attention, tried to watch Bill, but Harry was just being so distracting!  Ron was even paying attention better than him (holding Hermione's hand and handing her a tissue at just the right time), and that was saying something.  Harry just kept staring at her, his mouth hanging slightly open as if they were standing face to face and he were trying to decide whether or not he wanted to kiss her.

      At the end of the ceremony--when she had to follow Bill and Fleur and Charlie and Gabrielle alone--he looked away as she passed.  She was then subjected to kissing, hugging, and shaking the hands of guests, two-thirds of whom she had never met before in her life.  But Harry...  Harry had kept his hands in his pockets and walked on by, leaving Ron to hug her before moving on to try to work up the courage to try to kiss the maid of honor and bride.  Hermione gave her a sympathetic look and hug, then took Ron firmly by the elbow before dragging him away from his new relatives so he would stop holding up the line.
 
 
 

* * * * * * *
 
 
 
      Ginny couldn't breathe.  Gabi was hanging all over Harry and constantly giggling as if his every word were intoxicating.  Ron and Hermione were dancing nonstop and as such were no help when it came to breaking things up or cheering her up.  Bill was--of course--with Fleur every moment from start to finish, looking quite as if she were the most beautiful creature on the face of the planet.  Ginny thought she probably was; as she stood alone, nursing a butterbeer, she had to wonder what the point of taking pains to look beautiful if no one was going to pay you the slightest bit of attention.

      Harry looked really good in his new dress robes; they were a lot nicer than the ones he had worn to the Yule Ball and fit him better, too.  All day long he played the perfect escort to Gabi, who remained persistently unshakable.  Right now they just happened to be dancing together.  Harry had never ever danced with Ginny and now he was swinging her around romantically?  Gabi wasn't even dancing at all properly, her arms securely fastened around his neck, her body infuriatingly close to his, all the while her face tilted upwards as if just poised for a kiss.  And then she did the unthinkable:  she wrapped her arms around Harry's waist and--not only that--she grabbed his bum!!!

      Ginny dropped her bottle, nearly hyperventilating, with only one thing on her mind:  revenge.  She pushed through the crowd of dancers, not caring that she'd just knocked over Aunt Muriel along the way, grabbed Gabi's hair, and pulled hard.  Gabrielle shrieked and came off of Harry but she didn't fall.  Ginny strode up to her, her face on fire, pulled back her fist, and let it fly.  Her blow had a satisfying impact:  Gabrielle was now on the floor.  Ginny's hand, however, was throbbing considerably, and she was getting more than a little woozy.  All she could remember before passing out was someone--she didn't know who--catching her as she fell.
 
 
 

* * * * * * *
 
 
 
      Waking up was like coming up for fresh air when she had been underwater for too long trying to outdo the twins or Ron.  Ginny coughed hard, gasping for air, and grabbed for her hand, which was already turning purple and bruised.  Fleur stood over her, looking nearly as mad as Mum would were she standing before her, and Gabi was sitting beside her, holding her jaw.  Bill was standing behind his wife, looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

      "I 'ave 'ad enough of you two!" Fleur exclaimed.  "I ask 'ou to help entertain mee guests and 'at do 'ou do?!?  You start to fight each other.  Gabi, you cannot go flirting with 'Arry as if 'e were a toy!"  She wagged her finger menacingly at her sister, then spun to face Ginny:  "An' you!  Terrorizing thee guests; I will not 'ave it!"  Bill had had enough:  he couldn't help but start laughing.  Fleur spun to face her husband, tripping over her skirt:  she would have fallen had Bill not caught her.  "It is not funny!" Fleur moaned in her heavy accent.  "Me wedding is ruined!"

      "Oh, my love," Bill said, trying not to laugh but failing miserably, "they have certainly entertained the guests.  You cannot expect to marry into the Weasley clan and escape a little mayhem."  Fleur looked as if she were going to cry.  "Perhaps we should have restricted the flow of Butterbeer and prohibited the cinching of dresses:  a lot could have been avoided."  Ginny suddenly realized that Fleur seemed more than a little tipsy while Gabi seemed a bit hung over.  As it was, she wasn't at all certain that she hadn't overdone it with the Butterbeer herself.

      "How wuz I to know that Butterbeer and Veela do not mix?" Fleur moaned.  She put a hand on her head:  "I do not feel at all well..."

      "Come on," Bill pulled her upright and cast Sobering Charms on all three of the women before them.  He leaned down to whisper into his wife's ear, "perhaps we can steal a few moments alone together before it's time to cut the cake...."  He escorted his wife away from the errant sisters, winking at Ginny over his shoulder.

      "I feel so ashamed," Gabi hiccuped. "You 'ave been so nice to me; I should have seen that 'ou and 'Arry are meant for each other."

      "I haven't really been nice to you," Ginny admitted.  "I've been so jealous.  I used to be every bit as infatuated with Harry as you, and came so close to being happy with him forever, and now I'm so afraid that I've lost him for good.  He told me that he loves me, but how can he love someone as plain and gawky as me?"

      "'Ou weere so radiant," Gabrielle objected.  "'Ee could not keep 'is eyes off 'ou for one moment thee eentire day."  She paused then, starting to blush:  "Yesteerday he was quite--how do you say?--happy to see you as well.  I was eencredibly envious of how beauteeful 'ou were despite thee fact 'ou were soaked and muddy."

      "Harry was happy to see me?" Ginny asked.  "He didn't even talk to me."  Gabrielle blushed some more and was now turning quite red:

      "That is not quite what I was meaning," she said quietly, as if telling Ginny a secret.  "Let us say that parts of 'Arry were 'appy to see 'ou while other parts were not quite so much..."  Ginny stared, still not quite sure what Gabrielle was trying to say, then blushed herself as she caught on:  "'E was very embarassed to say thee least," Gabrielle summarized.

      "You can't mean to tell me that Harry was more interested in seeing me than looking at your beautiful skin, hair, and body?" Ginny scoffed.

      "Not all boys are fond of playing with porcelain dolls," Gabi said softly.  "'Arry prefers one girl in parteecular:  I 'ave heard she plays Quiddeetch very well and ees very funny."  Ginny didn't know what to say.  "I see 'ou steell do not believe me," Gabi stated confidently:  "You must know that 'Arry is very shy with me and far too noble to be taking advantage of intoxicated girls no matter 'ow silly they are."  Gabrielle looked very sad.  Ginny cleared her throat:

      "You know, if daring thrill-Seekers are your type, I do have another brother that sounds perfect for you..." she noted.  "He's a bit scuffed up, but otherwise in tact."

      "There is another?" Gabi asked hesitantly.  "Eet sounds too good to be true."
 
 
 

* * * * * * *
 
 
 
      Ginny and Gabi actually ended up enjoying each other's company considerably... after cleaning up from their little scuffle of course.  Ginny rearranged Gabi's hair, Gabi rearranged Ginny's laces, they discarded the uncomfortable wreaths, and the two young women went off arm in arm to find Charlie, who was much more the type of companion Gabrielle was eager to find in the first place.  The two girls shared him all afternoon, dancing, eating, laughing.  The twins and their dates also joined them making it all the more fun.  Fred and Angelina Johnson were wearing matching robes in a garish fuscia, dancing up a storm just as they had at the Yule Ball.  George and Katie Bell didn't match as well, (he was in lime, she in a subdued teal) but kept up.  All in all it turned out to be an excellent afternoon... until it was time for Bill and Fleur to leave for their honeymoon.

      Ginny found herself crushed on every side by well wishers that she rather wished were less sweaty.  She desperately wanted to be able to tell Bill goodbye, but there was simply no way for her to reach the getaway car that the twins had decorated.  But just as Bill was handing Fleur into the car she caught his eye:  he smiled broadly and waved, then promptly tossed her the bouquet.  Gabi moaned and groaned about this for several moments before deciding to drag Charlie back to the dance floor for an exclusive set.  And suddenly Ginny felt incredibly funny.  Gabi had turned out to not be half bad, and somehow it had helped her for one glorious day.  But now the sun was setting and she felt desperately alone all over again.  The twins appeared to be more settled than she did.  That was depressing as the twins had always said that having each other was enough.  Charlie had always insinuated that if Ginny had enough time she could get any boy she wanted.  As it was she was forced to pry her shoes off herself to gingerly rub her swollen feet:  unbearable heat and dancing for hours on end did not mix.

      Ginny started off for the house next.  Normally it wasn't such a long stroll from the garden, but there were simply so many obstacles between here and there that she decided to walk the long way around.  She paused for a moment at the broomshed to pull her hair out of her face:  it was sticking horribly to her neck, but she simply did not have anything to pull it back with that matched the dress and as such it had been bothering her all day.  It was one of those moments where she just wished that she could hack it all off.  Mum would go ballistic, she knew.  The party was quickly winding down, and many of the guests were starting to gather their belongings, so she started off for the house, suddenly aching to be alone.

      As she rounded the corner she suddenly found that Harry was standing by the front door, leaning against the post that held up the small porch (the twins had broken off its twin a decade ago, and it sagged on one side, but it did provide a little shade).  He was staring off into the rapidly deepening dark, but now as he turned to face her, her breath caught in her throat.  The sunlight was setting his eyes alight and he looked unbelievably sexy with his shirt untucked and his dress robes thrown over one arm, his hands thrust into his pockets.  She walked towards him slowly, not sure what she should do.  She decided to walk past him as if he weren't there, but he stepped in between her and the doorway, his eyes drilling into her.

      "Ginny," he said her name with so much pain and desire that she felt guilty all over again for ever thinking he could be interested in Gabi.  They stared at each other for a long, tense moment, until the light started going out of his eyes.  He leaned down to kiss her, hesitantly at first, as if she wouldn't return the gesture, but he needn't have worried.  She kissed him back wholeheartedly but then backed off, once again letting him dictate the terms of the encounter but quite content to let the situation escalate, which was what was quickly happening.  She couldn't help it; Harry just got under her skin that way.  No one else had ever had the same power over her and she knew no one else ever would.

      A moment later they could hear someone coming, and she clung to him, half expecting him to suddenly up and walk away, but he didn't:  he put his arms around her and held her close as he pulled her behind Mum's gigantic rosebush.  She leaned against him in the dark, her heart beating a mile a minute as they heard a scolding Hermione escort a clearly intoxicated Ron indoors.  They stood there, pressed together in the dark, clinging to one another with millions of yards of fabric between them, for a long time.

      He didn't kiss her anymore.  He simply held her as if letting go would cause the world to end.  He caressed one her bare arms--elbow to shoulder and back again--for the longest time, his touch as soft as the feathered end of a quill.  She didn't want this tender and seemingly inconsequential expression of love to ever end.  When he moved his hands down to her wrists, held her hands, his thumbs caressed her in nearly the same way, rubbing lazy circles on the back of them, then her palms.  His touch was gentle and driving her insane.  She could imagine him touching her other places like that and it made her blush and quiver with desire.

      And then he leaned down to kiss her once more, softly on the lips, and when she opened her eyes he was gone, walking away and back towards the party.  She went inside and got Hermione to help her out of the dress.  She took a cold shower and fell into bed, exhausted with dancing and longing and fighting the longing.  It had all in all been almost the most perfect day she could ask for in such dark times.  She didn't know if she wanted more or if she could bear it if she got more.  She was just too tired to think anymore.  All she knew is that she didn't know how to hold on and wait any longer but she couldn't let him go or it would kill her.
 
 
 

Chapter Five - Silent Song

Lumos Nox ~ source ~ rogue.fire.angel@gmail.com
475 since 03 - 29 - 06 ~ fic completed 08 - 16 - 05 ~ final edit 11 - 11 - 06